18 Jul Brian: Touring the devastating HAIL near Onida, South Dakota

Onida, South Dakota – Watch the video above as Brian takes a tour of 5 fields that were hit by catastrophic hail near Onida, South Dakota. Two separate storms cut a wide swath of destruction in Sully County the week prior to the 4th of July, continuing across the state of South Dakota in what many describe as the worst hail ever in the state’s recent history.

There were reports of hail lasting an hour in duration, combined with micro-bursts of wind topping 90 mph. Over 200,000 acres of crops were damaged or destroyed in Sully County alone! This means a dramatic reduction in wheat acres for custom harvesters to combine, a bitter pill to swallow when the weather has left many crews with few acres to harvest in the Southern Plains earlier in the season.

Below you can view still shots of the devastated crops and property damage left behind.

All Aboard Wheat Harvest is sponsored by High Plains Journal and John Deere. Brian can be reached at brian@allaboardharvest.com.