Rising river delays crop planting for some farmers

With the Mississippi River expected to crest at or near 39 feet today, a flood warning issued by the National Weather Service for Cape Girardeau remains in effect until further notice.

The river was at 38.8 feet, which is 6.8 feet above flood stage, as of Friday morning, having caused moderate flooding in the region over the past several weeks, inundating farmers' fields and wreaking havoc with planting schedules.

According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the river has been above flood stage at Cape Girardeau since May 1. Before Saturday, the highest crest for this year was on April 2 at 33.4 feet, with the record being 48 feet during the flooding of 1993.

At Cape Girardeau, the Themis and Broadway floodgates have been closed all week, and city officials have been making sure pump stations are in operation since the beginning of May, said Stan Polivick, storm water coordinator for the city.

The Burlington Northern Railroad gate will remain open, Polivick said, a last-minute decision made by the railroad because the prediction for the crest earlier in the week had been 41 feet, but by May 20 it had dropped two feet.

With the rising Mississippi River, Charlie Schwartz cannot grow a crop in this field along Highway 74 west of Interstate 55 because of flooding from the nearby Diversion Channel. (Fred Lynch)

Charlie Schwartz, who farms about a thousand acres near the Diversion Channel, hasn't been able to plant his corn yet this year because his fields are underwater.

Normally, he plants about 240 acres of corn and about 450 acres of soybeans.

He was able to harvest only about four acres of wheat this year from the fields near the Diversion Channel after the flooding destroyed a majority of it.

"It's already flooded the wheat -- you can't even tell it was there," Schwartz said.

"We didn't plant any corn yet because we couldn't, and we may not be able to get in there," Schwartz said, noting that June 5 is the deadline for planting corn for those farmers who have insured their crops.

Floodwaters from the Diversion Channel spill over into this field which Charlie Schwartz farms along Highway 74 west of Interstate 55. (Fred Lynch)

Schwartz purchased crop insurance this year, the first time he's ever done so, having dealt with extensive flooding over the past three years.

The land in the levee district costs nearly $15 more to insure per acre than the other acreage, Schwartz said.

He added that he had to purchase insurance for all of his fields, even the more than 1,500 acres he farms south of the flood plain that doesn't suffer water damage.

The river's crest today will probably put additional acres of the flooded fields under water, delaying planting of soybean and corn crops even further, said Gerald Bryan, spokesman for the University of Missouri Extension's Cape Girardeau County office.

"We're going to see more flooding in some of the lower areas not protected by levees," Bryan said.

In addition, already flooded areas will worsen, Bryan said.

"When it do es go down, most of the area will probably go to soybeans," Bryan said.

Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois have seen extensive delays in both corn and soybean planting this year.

By May 20, the state of Illinois normally has 92 percent of its corn planted; this year, only 20 percent had been planted by that date, said David Reinbott of the University of Missouri extension's Scott County office.

In Missouri, 84 percent of corn is normally in the ground by May 20, and as of last week, only 54 percent of corn had been planted, Reinbott said.

"It's made for light planting -- when the Eastern Corn Belt's wet, you get less corn," Reinbott said.

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

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