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Warm-up needed for Bootheel crops

A farmer in the Missouri Bootheel says the crops could use some sunshine.

Aaron Porter tells Brownfield the warmer temperatures in the forecast are welcome for his irrigated corn and soybeans.

“The corn is pretty pale and the soybeans look a little rough after the frost, but the roots and stems of soybeans are healthy.”

Porter also grows cotton, but he says planting will not start until later this week once the weather warms up.

“Cotton is a tough plant to get started, but once it goes, it takes off. With these new high speed planters, we can put the crop in the ground fast,” says Porter. “The first month it doesn’t grow hardly at all, it just sits there and then, it finally takes off. It likes the heat and dryness.”

Porter says this planting season has been a complete turnaround from 2022 and he is optimistic about the growing season.

Photo credit: Aaron Porter