CASSOPOLIS — More rain fell this week in Cassopolis. While there were no catastrophic floods washing away lawn items, it was still a reminder of the harsh weather that the area received this year.

Perhaps no one is feeling the effects of the weather more than the local farmers. First there was the unusual cold in early spring, followed by extreme heat and heavy amounts of rain. This caused many of their crops to be delayed significantly.

“We’re probably a week behind on sweet corn from normal,” said Mark Dussel of Dussel’s Farm Market and Greenhouse. “A week is not too bad, but when there’s nine or 10 weeks to a summer, a week is cutting off quite a bit. Same thing on the greenhouse side: the cold weather in early spring cut a lot of people off.”

Due to the delays, some farmers are having to plant alternative crops. For example, since corn was delayed this year, some farmers are planting beans in areas where corn typically goes. The bean season is later than corn season, so this give the farmers more time to fill that space.

However, the lack of corn in this area has not impacted the price nationally. Per BusinessInsider.com, the international price for a bushel of corn was $3.52 at the time of press. Dussel said that the price needs to be at around $4 for a farmer to break even.

“If the price is a low price for commodities and you’re not going to have a great yield, it is going to affect your bottom line tremendously,” he said.

For this reason, many banks that loan to farmers require them to have crop insurance. Each crop has its own date by which a preventative planting claim must be filed. According to the Michigan Farm Bureau, farmers should contact their local Farm Service Agency to find out when those dates are.

Not all farmers have crop insurance, including Dussel.

“I’m small enough that I could absorb it,” he said. “I don’t have as much as most guys have. I only do 100 acres of corn and 120 of green beans, usually. Then I do that with a rotation with my vegetables.”

He also said that part of the reason he does not have crop insurance is because of how complicated it is.

“I don’t do crop insurance, personally, because I don’t understand it enough,” he said. “You pay by the bushel and the acre. I’ve done it in the past and it always seemed like a wash. It didn’t pay me, and it didn’t really save me.”

Other crops that have struggled this year are asparagus and strawberries. He said the rain has benefited cherries, but overall this has been a bad year for farmers.

“It’s been a trying spring for everybody and these are some of the things,” he said. “Everybody is just behind because of the weather.”