On July 22, 1995, a hailstorm severely damaged 960 acres of corn and soybeans on the Mehmens' northeast Iowa farm. Three days later Karmen Mehmen surveyed the damage. "...The debt we have on this, I don't know if I can handle [it]. How am I going to live until the end of the year? They can't continue to borrow me money on a crop I don't have."