Hail ravages Ramsey County fields [Grand Forks Herald]

July 23--Hail from severe thunderstorms moving across much of northeast North Dakota into northwest Minnesota Sunday night left a swath of damage to crops in northern Ramsey County, but appeared to have not left much damage elsewhere.

"We had wheat fields that were headed out and now they are about 5 inches tall and not a head standing," said John Martinson Monday afternoon after surveying muddy fields in an ATV. "I have a couple soybean fields that were wiped out, not a leaf left standing in them."

Martinson, who lives 9.5 miles northwest of Edmore, N.D., said he lost about 520 acres of crops to hail ranging from "significant to total loss."

The hailstones as small as a pea to about as large as a 50-cent coin fell for as many as 25 minutes in a two-mile wide band that stretched for several miles, he said.

"Some of my neighbors have pretty significant corn damage," he said. Another neighbor saw 300 acres of barley wiped out, he said.

Elsewhere in the County, the National Weather Service reported a brief tornado near Starkweather that downed some wooden power poles. Strong winds also uprooted a tree and broke some branches.

Other damage

Throughout the region, there were reports of large hail including 1.75 inch hail in parts of Grand Forks, Nelson and Traill counties, the weather service reported. In Mahnomen County, strong winds damaged a Quonset and downed trees and power lines.

But many grain elevator managers and farmers said crop damage was not serious.

Alyssa Kittleson, agricultural extension agent for Traill County, said the only report she got was from a farmer near Hatton, N.D., who got hail ranging in size from pebbles to quarters that fell for about 15 minutes. The farmer didn't report how damaged his crops were, she said.

The flip side

In Walsh County, there actually was a plus to the storms, according to Brad Brummond, an ag extension agent for the county.

"We got about 1.5 inches of rain, which in Park River was a million-dollar rain," he said. "We were pretty dry here."

The warmth the past month has healed many of the wounds of this spring, he said referring to the wet spring and early summer.

"If you had told me six weeks ago our corn was going to look like this, I would have told you you were drinking," Brummond said.

After a drive across the county, he said Monday that he did not see hail damage, nor had he heard reports from farmers of it.

Back in Ramsey County, Martinson said his crops had been looking pretty good considering how late they was planted and how cold and wet spring was. Now, he said, he hopes the federal crop insurance program's general provisions will cover some of his losses. "I don't have any hail insurance."

On the Web: The weather service's storm damage report is at 1.usa.gov/13V1BFr.

Call Lee at (701) 780-1237; (800) 477-6572, ext. 1237; or send email to slee@gfherald.com.

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