Farmers along the Missouri River are faced with flooding until October, giving them limited time to recover and prepare for next year. Producers in Holt and Atchison Counties have had an opportunity to speak with the representatives of the Missouri Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture about assistance programs.
Missouri Director of Agriculture Jon Hagler says farmers will be challenged to get into fields and repair damage and to get temporary levees put in place. Both tasks would be substantially more difficult in cold weather and perhaps with frozen ground.
Hagler says preparing forms now to file for assistance later will allow assessments to get underway faster when floodwater does recede. Farmers are being told flood insurance will cover lost crops, while programs from USDA will cover losses if farmers are prevented from planting in 2012 by flooding this year.
An estimated 64,000 acres is underwater in Atchison County with another 12,000 damaged by seep water. In Holt County about 140,000 acres remain under water. Hagler says the water has receded little, if any.