Washington County farmers impacted by significant flooding

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Rural parts of Southeast Wisconsin were impacted by storms that came through on Sunday, Aug. 10 resulting in flooding in fields.

Rodger Basse, the owner of Basse’s Taste of Country in Colgate, said his strawberry field and pumpkin patch were impacted by heavy rain like he’d never seen before.

“I’ve never seen anything this magnitude. Nothing like 10 inches at one time in a 24-hour period,” Basse said. “We’re mainly concerned about our strawberry crop for next year, and also our pumpkins for this year, because you don’t want them sitting in water for too long.”

In Jackson, Ross Bishop said his corn and wheat were impacted. Acres of land were filled with water on Monday, Aug. 11.

“The water is going to affect the nitrogen that’s in the soil for feeding the crop,” Bishop said.

Basse and Bishop said there are some crops that could benefit from a lot of water.

“As for the soybeans, this is going to make them really good, because in August, they like to have a lot of rain to fill the pods,” Bishop said.

“Right now, apple trees are loving it. All the extra moisture and we’ll have big apples for that,” Basse said.

Both of these Washington County farmers say they are used to Mother Nature providing them with all sorts of weather patterns. They hope the forecast cooperates in the coming weeks and months as they prepare for the harvest.

“We try our best to control everything, but you can’t control Mother Nature," Basse said. "The sun will come out, it will dry out, and we will keep going as farmers.”