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USDA meteorologist: ‘I think planting delays are inevitable.’

Flooding near Fremont, Nebraska (photo courtesy Nebraska Governor’s office)

USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey says this week’s historic flooding in Nebraska, Iowa and other states could be just a taste of what many areas across the country might be in for this spring.

“We’ll be talking about flooding in various parts of the country for at least the next several weeks,” Rippey says.

He says the Dakotas and parts of Minnesota could be next.

“As we see warm weather overspreading all of that northern U.S. region this week, we will see rivers starting to rise across that region as well—and that’s probably the early stages of what I expect to be a significant flood event also in parts of the North over the next few weeks.”

Rippey says with soils in many regions saturated, frozen or underwater, and with more storm systems expected to cross the U.S. during planting season, “I think planting delays are inevitable.”

Rippey says waters in the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, which are already running high, could go even higher in coming weeks, possibly affecting the transportation of grain and other ag products.

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