Damage, yields concerns for some Miss. farmers
Published 1:02 pm Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Mississippi farmers are reporting widespread soybean damage and declining yields as soggy weather continues to hamper harvest.
In its crop report Monday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said some farmers reported up to 100 percent damage in their soybean fields. It also rated nearly half Mississippi’s soybean crop in poor or very poor condition.
Harvest was well off the average pace, with 61 percent of Mississippi’s soybeans in as of Sunday.
That’s not the only crop lagging, or languishing. Eleven percent of Mississippi cotton was in; that compared to the five-year average of 84 percent. Nearly half of that crop also was rated as being in poor or very poor condition.
USDA estimated 85 percent of Mississippi had surplus moisture.