RAIN HELPS AREA CROPS BUT MORE IS NEEDED

Between 1-1 inches of badly needed rain fell Thursday morning on parched corn fields in the Cape Girardeau area, but agricultural sources said at least another 2-3 inches of rain is needed to prevent additional crop yield losses.

The rain, heavy at first, started around 7:30 a.m., at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport. The midnight-to-noon Thursday rainfall total at the airport was 1.21 inches; at Jackson, 1.43 inches was measured at the cooperative weather station at the Jackson Fire Department headquarters.

Up to eight inches of rain fell across parts of central Missouri.

The heavy rains caused a new round of flash flooding in the area. Several roads and highways in the Kansas City area were closed again.

A National Weather Service spokesman didn't rule out the possibility the river at Cape Girardeau could be on the rise again later this week because of downpours along the Missouri River.

The Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau was at 45.9 feet on Thursday. It was forecast to continue to fall to 45.2 today, 44.8 feet on Saturday and 44.7 feet on Sunday.

Yesterday's rainfall in the Cape Girardeau area was the first substantial precipitation here since early and late June.

John Lorberg, who has 389 acres of corn planted in the Gordonville-Whitewater area, said Thursday's rain was a lifesaver for his corn, and a big help to his young soybeans.

"If we hadn't gotten rain in another two weeks, a lot of the corn in these hills, and even in the bottoms, would not have made anything this year. Even with the rain, my corn yields will still be down because of damage already caused by the lack of moisture," Lorberg said, as a hard rain beat down on the metal roof of the outbuilding he was working in.

Because of extremely hot and dry conditions in July, Lorberg said nearly all of the topsoil moisture had been depleted by early August, causing the corn to undergo heat stress.

The visible sign of heat stress and lack of moisture in corn is a premature yellowing of the corn stalk at ground level, and yellowing or withering of what should be large green leaves on the stalk.

"Right now, corn needs about three-tenths of an inch of rain per day for it to develop large ears. Some of that moisture normally comes from the ground, but there isn't much left in the topsoil after last month," he said. "Another three-inch soaking rain spaced over a week or so would really put all of us in good shape for the rest of the summer."

Lorberg said until now, most soybeans have not been sensitive to the lack of moisture. But that will change this month.

"They'll start needing lots of moisture when they enter their flowering stage that eventually sets their (bean) pods," he added.

Like many other farmers in the Cape Girardeau County area, Lorberg finally got his 150 acres of soybeans planted in early July, instead of the usual early June, because the ground was too wet in June to plant.

Although his bean and corn fields have not been affected by floodwaters from the Mississippi River and Diversion Channel, Lorberg says there are fields near his that have too much and too little moisture.

"Right now, I can take you out toward Whitewater where one end of a field of corn or beans is underwater and the other end is dying for lack of rain," he said.

Gerald Bryant, a University of Missouri Extension Service Agronomist for Cape Girardeau and Perry counties, says Lorberg's situation is not unique.

"From the Perry-Cape Girardeau county line south into Scott County, everything, corn and soybeans, has been hurting for moisture. The corn is wilting and burning up from the heat and drought of July. I've seen leaves on soybean plants wilted from a lack of moisture," Bryant said.

"On the other hand, Perry County looks great. They've gotten rain almost every week. I was up there last Tuesday after they had a good shower. The fields were all muddy. They've been getting rain up there about every week to ten days. But from Jackson south, it's a different story."

Bryant said the bigger corn in Cape Girardeau County has been saved because its roots were able to extend down into the subsoil level, where there is still plenty of moisture.

"It's the younger corn that was planted when it was wet and did not have to develop deep roots to find moisture that's in trouble right now," he explained.

Bryant said corn that is not being irrigated in Scott County is burning up because of a lack of moisture.

He said Thursday's rain will also help area pastures and hay fields, said Bryant. "They were also hurting for rain. However, the dry weather in July did allow some of the farmers to get in their fields to cut the dry clover for seed. We should be getting close to a third cutting of alfalfa, and a second cutting of other varieties of hay," he said.