Farmers say record rain hasn’t hurt crops

April has been one of the wettest on record in the area in 20 years, said William Brantley, a certified spotter for the National Weather Service in Memphis.

Crockett County farmer Steve Bailey said most corn crops are mature enough to survive the excessive rainfall.

“It’s still a little too early to tell, until we can get out in the fields and really assess the damage,” he said. “But my corn is pretty mature, and I don’t think I will lose any of it to rain.”

Wheat crops, although in good shape at this point, could catch various diseases if the wet conditions persists, officials said.

Most cotton farmers have yet to plant their crops, saving them from the standing water found on many fields.

“We had some early (cotton) planting and the jury is still out on it. The water did not get off as quickly as we would have liked,” said Larry Steckel, weed specialist at the University of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service office in Madison County. “But this is the first week of cotton planting.”

Officials estimated less than 1 percent of cotton crops were planted before the rains.

Standing water will delay farmers from preparing fields for planting until at least the end of the week. Some farmers are pumping water from their fields.

———

Information from: The Jackson Sun, http://www.jacksonsun.com