A TRIPLE WHAMMY: LACK OF RAIN LATEST WOE FOR AREA FARMERS

For some Southeast Missouri farmers, 1991 has not been a kind and gentle year, as Mother Nature has socked them with a triple "whammy."

A wetter than normal spring caused extensive damage to this year's winter wheat crop. The wet weather in late Spring and early summer then forced farmers to delay planting corn and soybeans until late May to mid-June.

Now, the lack of rain during the past 45 days has in some areas dimmed the prospects for a good corn crop.

Terry Birk, Agriculture Soil Conservation Service agent for Cape Girardeau County, said that nearly all corn planted in the hill country of Cape Girardeau County has been damaged by the summer drought.

But he said some corn, particularly lowland fields in southern Cape Girardeau County and in creek bottoms, received sufficient rain during its critical development stage.

"Some of the hill corn is not going to make it this year, and the rest of the corn that does come in will have greatly reduced yields," said Birk.

"It's so bad in some areas that farmers are cutting their corn now and grinding it up for sileage. There just isn't enough there to justify the time and expense of combining it this fall, so they're cutting it up now for cattle feed."

Birk said about 31,000 acres of corn was planted this year in Cape Girardeau County, a lot of it in the hill country north of Dutchtown and Delta.

But Birk said it's still too early to predict how much the dry weather will reduce corn yields.

"It all depends on whether or not the corn received enough moisture during its critical pollination and tasselling stage of development," he said. "If it got rain at the right time, the corn will be alright."

Because most of the corn was planted later than normal due to wet weather and wet ground, Birk said the critical, developmental stage came in late July and early August, during the middle of a two-month drought.

Birk said corn planted before the drought isn't necessarily in better condition. He said corn planted in wet ground developed shallow root systems and as the topsoil dried in July and early August, the corn was unable to draw moisture at the deeper levels.

Birk said very spotty rainfall in August hasn't helped matters.

More than two inches of rain fell Aug. 5, near the Cape Girardeau airport, but further north, less than a tenth of an inch fell. None fell in the Jackson area.

Rainfall at the airport this month totals 3.22 inches, but most areas of the county haven't received that much.

The storm that dumped nearly an inch of rain at the airport Thursday was a little more widespread, and in some areas, it was the first substantial rainfall since July.

It's the same story in Scott, Mississippi and Stoddard counties, says Tim Schnakenberg, University of Missouri Extension Service Agronomy Specialist.

"The drought has had a major impact on corn in the northern Bootheel counties, and cotton in the southern counties," he said. "The exception is corn that was irrigated the past three to four weeks during its critical development stage."

He said more and more farmers in the Bootheel are switching to irrigation as a way to insure a good crop each year.

Schnakenberg said corn planted in nonirrigated, sandy soil was damaged by the drought. That's because the sandy soil does not hold water well, and the intense heat and lack of rain the past two months caused the soil to dry out.

"I've also seen some pretty bad cotton in some areas of Mississippi County that's not irrigated," he said.

Schnakenberg said most of the corn is past the critical pollination and tasselling stage, so last week's rains came too late.

For some farmers, soybeans now are the only hope for a cash crop to pay the bills.

Schnakenberg and Birk said the recent rains will help soybeans and milo, which are more resistant to drought and heat. But they said much depends on the length of this year's growing season.

"Keep in mind that everything corn, soybeans, milo, and cotton, was planted several weeks later than usual," said Schnakenberg. "The date of the first killing freeze will determine if there's going to be a good soybean and cotton crop this fall.

"If a cotton boll freezes late in the season, it's going to rot on the stalk. Even if the soybeans are ready before the first killing frost, it will be a lot later in the fall than usual.

"So the chances are greater for extended periods of wet weather that would prevent combines from getting into the fields."

Schnakenberg said farmers should leave beans in the field as long as possible to reduce the amount of moisture. The alternative is to combine the beans while they have a high moisture content and have them dried in a grain dryer. Commercial elevators will dock farmers for high-moisture grain.

Another consequence of the wet spring was that the winter wheat crop was devastated by mold and disease. Some farmers simply plowed the wheat in lieu of corn and soybeans.

The winter wheat that was harvested this year was of a lower test weight and quality, which meant farmers were docked at the grain elevator.

Then the wet weather in April, May, and early June, delayed the planting of corn and soybeans for several weeks. When the seed finally was in the ground, Mother Nature turned off the spigot in mid-June and July.