I recently attended the meeting in Bowman concerning the future of weather modification. What I didn’t realize was that I was supposed to check my glasses and common sense at the door. After listening to Darin Langerud and his presentation on the program it was opened up to questions and comments. When I asked Darin about the storms that come in from Montana that are red on the radar, they subsequently send the planes up and shortly after the red turns to yellow and then green (sometimes disappearing completely) that some how I am suppose to believe this increases rainfall. This doesn’t happen on rare occasions but nearly every time the planes seed the clouds. My friend in the southern part of the county who received less rain because of this, had 35 bushel wheat compared to my 55-60. His crop insurance APH of 45 at 70 percent coverage gave him nothing from insurance and a big loss to show his banker. His 2 quarters that got hailed out was his only profitable crop. He received 35 bushel at $5.13 (vs $4.40 local price) from crop insurance plus $100 from hail insurance giving him $280 an acre. Do the math on all the cropland in the area and this huge economic disaster not only affects the family farm but main street as well.
- Jon Wert, Bowman County
