AREA FARMERS HURT BY DROUGHT CONDITIONS

Farmers in Southeast Missouri are facing some serious problems -- crop conditions have been worsened by the two-month drought, pastures are browning and farm commodity prices are low.

"Sixty to 70 percent of soybean yields in Cape Girardeau County are expected to be drastically reduced," said Gerald Bryan, area agronomist with the Cape County Extension office.

"With the exception of irrigated beans, the drought has created significant damage to crops and pastures."

The report is the same throughout Southeast Missouri, the state and nation, and rains that would fall now won't be much help.

"This is a year we especially didn't need this (drought)," said Charles Kruse, president of the Missouri Farm Bureau. "Farm commodity prices are down, and many farmers are coming off a bad year in 1998."

"We've already had some farm crises because corn and soybean prices are so low," said Kruse. "The drought is making things worse."

Farm experts say poor market conditions are being caused by a glut in world supplies of soybeans, corn, pork and other products.

If the U.S. Department of Agriculture's prediction for bumper crops across the nation come true, the surplus will keep prices low, and the drought in several states will make it even harder on producers who have few crops to sell.

Based on the latest national survey of crop conditions, the USDA has lowered its forecasts, but farmers are expected to harvest 91.4 billion bushels of corn this year, down 2 percent nationally. The cotton harvest is expected to be down 4 percent from a year ago, and the forecast for soybeans is down 2 percent.

Legislators are hearing serious complaints from the drought areas.

Congress has approved $7.5 billion in farm aid to compensate growers on a second straight year of low commodity prices. Additional proposals are being made to include additional assistance for weather-related issues.

Parts of Tennessee, Vermont and New Hampshire were declared agricultural disaster areas last week. These three states join all or parts of 16 other states with the designation.

The disaster declaration makes farmers eligible for low-interest loans.

Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan Monday sought assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the state's 114 counties, which have been hard hit by a lack of rain.

Carnahan said farm assessments show at least a 50 percent crop loss in about 50 counties because of dry conditions. Areas, which have had no significant rainfall since July, are reporting severe damage to corn and soybean crops.

"Early planted corn was pretty good in Southeast Missouri," said Larry Strobel, a farmer who lives in the Bell City area. "The late planted corn and soybeans are another matter."

Strobel, who raises corn and soybeans, will start harvesting some of his late corn this week.

"We won't know until we harvest just how bad the late corn is," he said. "The irrigated soybeans look OK, but the other soybeans look bad."

Strobel said this was the worst drought he's seen. there has been only one light shower in two months.

Some people are running out of water for irrigation, he said.

A lot of people deeper in the Bootheel are complaining about their cotton crop.

"The cotton needs rain," said Joe Henggeler, an irrigation expert at the Missouri Delta Center at Portageville. "Basically we haven't had much rain since July. It's been a real dry period. Cotton does well in dry weather, but it does need rain."

Pastures also need rain.

"Most pastures throughout the area are dead," said Strobel. Farmers have started to feed hay to their livestock, a few weeks before normal.

David Herbst of Chaffee agrees.

"The early corn is OK, but soybeans are the worst I've seen in a decade of farming," he said. "Irrigation has helped some, but soybeans respond a lot better to nature's rain that to irrigation."

Herbst irrigates about half his acreage.

The drought, along with low commodity prices presents a "double whammy" to farmers.

"Poor crop conditions mean lower yields, and prices are at all-time lows," said Kruse, a farmer in the Dexter area. "Farm Bureau groups, state and national, are looking at what level of support is needed in addition to the package already intact to help farmers."

Tommy Sallee, am agriculture statistician for the Missouri Department of Agriculture, tells how bad the situation is statewide.

The northern part of the state is better off than Southeast Missouri in soybeans, said Sallee.

In some northern areas, soybeans received good rainfall, and 60 percent of the soybeans are reported in good to excellent condition. That percentage drops to about 30 percent fair to good in the Bootheel.

Those figures are almost reversed for the early corn crop.