Local Farmers Irrigating to Survive Heat
By: Alexandra Sutter
Updated: June 20, 2012
PEORIA COUNTY -- No rain and hot weather may be good for some local businesses but the farm business isn't one of them.
The scorching temperatures are hurting Peoria County farmer Jim Rumbold's corn and beans, so he's started irrigating his fields.
"I do it so that I can get maximum yield. That's what we're trying to do. We're in it to make a profit," Rumbold said.
Irrigating doesn't come cheap.
His system runs on diesel fuel and he budgets about 50 dollars an acre. With his 600 acres, he could spend up to $30,000.
It's not the first year this farmer has had to pull out the water. He had to irrigate to get his crops to sprout earlier this year.
Rumbold said, "Every year is different. It's been challenging just to get the beans up."
Despite all of the challenges, he said he still believes the season will be a good one. "I believe we're going to have a really good season. We're in agriculture, we have to be optimistic!"
Rumbold said if we got about an inch of rain a week, he wouldn't have to irrigate at all.
