Floodwaters, which came late this year, have drained from hundreds of thousands of acres of area fields and the replanting of soybeans is nearing an end, but farmers now believe the weeks of hot and dry weather that aided in drying out the land could now damage their new crops.

Record high

Vicksburg’s temperatures climbed to 98 Wednesday, tying a record for the date set in 1984, according to records from the National Weather Service.

“I’m planting today, and I’m hoping I’ll finish up tomorrow, but I don’t have very high expectations on anything that’s planted on June 25th,” said Holly Bluff area farmer John Phillips Wednesday.

Ideal planting times for soybeans is early April. It’s too late in the year to plant corn and expect a decent crop, said Warren County Extension Service director John Coccaro, but most area farmers who were kept out of their fields have gotten in soybeans over the past two weeks. He said rain is needed in the short term, but the real test of the harvest will come in about two months.

“It is a crucial time, but the later part of the summer is going to be even more crucial,” he said. “If they can get just enough rain to make a stand, they’ll be OK in the short term. They don’t need a lot of rain, but they need some. As far as making or breaking a yield, that will really depend on the weather conditions when those beans are blooming and setting pods, which will occur in late August or early September for those who are just planting now.”

The first chance of rain is not forecast until Monday, but each day of next week has a 30 to 60 percent chance of isolated showers. The last time any measurable rain was recorded in Vicksburg was June 6. Through today, a total of 0.8 inches of rain has fallen over Vicksburg during the month, about 2 inches short of the average to date.

Phillips said he’s replanting about 75 percent of his 1,500 acres that were flooded. Due to varying factors of crop insurance policies and the high cost of replanting, some farmers are deciding to let the fields remain empty this summer. However, Coccaro said most farmers he talks to regularly are rolling the dice.

The Mississippi River crested 3.5 feet lower this spring than last year. However, the flood delayed planting or replanting about a month and caused slightly more flooding in the levee-locked, 4,093 square miles of farmland and forest known as the Yazoo Backwater Area. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimated 394,000 acres of land flooded this year, 152,000 acres of it cleared land for farming.

In 2008, flooding in April and May was followed by a drought that saw just 0.5 inches of rainfall during July, far below the average of 3.5 inches. Farmers then saw their withered crops saturated in August, when a record 11.33 inches of rain was recorded in Vicksburg for the month. The average rainfall for August is just more than 3 inches.

“That’s something I am kind of worried about,” said Coccaro of the dry weather over the past two weeks. “I hope we don’t see a repeat of the scenario from last year.”

Robert Simrall, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers chief of water control, said the water stage inside and outside of the Steele Bayou Control Structure — the lone drainage point for the backwater area — was nearly level on Wednesday at 80.2 feet. The gates were opened on June 4 to allow the lower Delta to drain. The gates will likely be closed again today or Friday, said Simrall, as a small increase in the Mississippi River is expected over the next week.

“Based on historical weather conditions, the odds are we will probably see below-average yields again this year,” Coccaro said, “but Mother Nature is crazy.”

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Contact Steve Sanoski at ssanoski@vicksburgpost.com