News

River bottom ground far from being ready to plant

A farmer at the Missouri River’s edge says a lot of water has to go downstream before he can plant a crop. Norborne, Missouri, grower Kyle Durham tells Brownfield the level of the river is lower than a couple of weeks ago, but that doesn’t mean his farm is drying out.

“We have an incredible amount of seep water that has covered a lot of the lower benches down next to the levees. In addition, we’ve had tributary streams and creeks and rivers that haven’t been able to drain properly,” Durham told Brownfield Ag News, “so getting water off of those lands is going to be a challenge.”

Continued high water in the Missouri River is forcing Durham to make changes in his field work plans.

“We personally planned to have about 400 acres of corn on affected fields,” he said, “which now we either have a new home for, or adjust those planting plans.”

This is the highest the river has been, said Durham, since the flood of 1993.