New estimates from the United States Department of Agriculture show Isabella County farmers sustained as much as $28 million in damage from a June flood.
Some farmers completely lost their crops and have had to replant, while others have had to salvage what little they can.
Seven inches of rain across the county left crops across the region submerged.
Paul Gross is with MSU Extension. He said it’s not clear yet how the region will be impacted.
“It’s kind of uncharted territory. We really don’t know what to expect because of the flooding this early in the season. It’s a long season and we’ll just have to wait and see once we harvest and do the evaluations then just to get a handle on what the effect was.”
Gross said some crops have been hit harder than others.
“Some fields came through surprisingly well. Some of the corn fields that we thought came through pretty well. Some of the corn fields that we thought came through well seem to be going backwards. And again dry beans, that crop took the brunt of flooding as far as stand loss.”
Gross said farmers are hoping for assistance to help make up for their losses.
“A lot of the relief farmers are going to get is going to be through the Farm Service Agency and the USDA Farm Programs from a crop insurance standpoint or from disaster declarations some opportunities to get low interest loans.”
Local officials say there has been no word about the possibility of receiving FEMA assistance.