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Missouri floods to force corn replanting

Many Missouri farmers are watching their corn-planted fields wash away because of flooding. Kyle Kirby farms near the town of Liberal in Southwest Missouri, where he says they’ve had more than 12 inches of rain since Easter, and five inches this past weekend, “I personally have about a thousand acres of corn and probably another 500 acres of soybeans to replant now. So, it sure messed up our plan for spring.” There’s a 90% chance of more rain in southwest Missouri on Wednesday.

Mark Scott farms near Wentzville, just west of St. Louis, and strategically plants corn ONLY on his hillsides in case of weather like this, “I’m really happy that I didn’t plant. A lot of people in the area were completely done. Some switched to beans. There’s going to be a major replant in my area.” Scott has about one-thousand acres under four to 10 feet of water. His area has gotten more than eight inches of rain since last Wednesday.

Scott tells Brownfield he’s heard from a grain terminal in St. Louis that cut their bids by five-cents through this week to discourage growers from hauling this week given the height of the river and difficulty for barge traffic.

 Missouri Governor Eric Greitens declared a state of emergency this weekend because of the flooding.