Despite the drought conditions, farmers in Leflore County say the 2016 crop year appears to have been a good one.
“We’ve got a few that are still out there — not very many. They’ll probably cut this week,” said Andy Braswell Sr., an agent with the Leflore County MSU Extension Service.
Although corn yields have been down in some places, they are similar to 2015’s overall yields.
“The cotton yields were good; the soybean yields were good,” Braswell said.
Rice yields are also expected to be above average, he said.
The drought conditions have been persistent in the Delta.
The Greenwood area received 1.87 inches of rain on Sept. 18, according to Thomas Winesett, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Jackson.
In October, the total amount of significant rain was 0.82.
The average daytime high for September was 92 degrees. In October, that dropped to 84 degrees.
Some peanuts remain to be harvested, with some farmers having to irrigate their fields in order to extract the peanuts from the hardened soil. Without irrigation, extraction would likely damage the peanuts, pulling them from the plants, Braswell said.
Farmer Jim Thomas still has some peanuts in the field. His problem is they are in a non-irrigated field. The process is time- consuming.
Farmer Chris Bush said his family has finished harvesting and is preparing the fields for next year.
Braswell said some farmers are having some difficulty in working the land up because of the dry soil.
Both Bush and Thomas said the dry weather has not hampered their operations.
• Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
