Recent widespread flooding in the area has led to "unprecedented failed acres" of agricultural crops in Tallahatchie County, according to longtime local Farm Service Agency Executive Director David Groner.
In some areas of the county, 1½ feet or more of rain was dumped by back-to-back weather systems during the week of June 7-11. Groner said a gauge on Milam Lane southwest of Charleston, maintained by Terry Cole for the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network, recorded 20.35 inches over the five-day period.
"With the excessive rainfall and flooding ... we have unprecedented failed acres," Groner said in a weekly news article submitted to The Sun-Sentinel.
Failed acreage, he explained, is "any crop planted that will not be carried to harvest."
Untold acres of farmland were submerged for days on end — especially along the Tallahatchie River at Locopolis and Swan Lake, where flood warnings have been in effect practically since the event.
A significant amount of agricultural acreage remains flooded, Groner said.
Because of the excessive rainfall that covered such a large multi-county drainage area, the levels of the Coldwater, Tallahatchie and Yalobusha rivers are not dropping fast enough, "keeping backed-up water in low-lying areas from being able to drain into the rivers," Groner noted Monday.
"I talked to a producer this morning in the Philipp area who estimates that he still has close to 1,000 acres with water on it," Groner noted.
From a farming standpoint, Groner said "no one really knows now exactly what will be done" with the flooded acreage, because the impact of the damage has yet to be fully measured.
"Some [of the land] will be planted back to soybeans if the conditions allow, and some will not be replanted," he added.
Soybeans have the best chance of a good outcome even when planted late in the growing season, according to the Mississippi State University Extension Service.
The most important piece of advice Groner has for farmers who sustained recent losses is to ensure that they file their 2021 acreage report certifying all of the crops that were planted before the flood. That information should be filed with the FSA as soon as possible, he added, especially since the July 15 deadline to do so is fast approaching.
"We need to know the original crops planted in each field and the planting date," he said. "Crop insurance will want this information as they begin to process insurance claims."
Groner said it is usually late summer each year before his office has a clear picture of the agricultural acreage devoted to each row crop in the county. In 2020, more than 212,000 acres of land were in local agricultural production, he noted, including 107,221 acres of soybeans and 62,302 acres of corn.
Groner called this "an extremely stressful time" for agricultural producers, adding that his office is willing "to help in any way we can."
In addition to swamping Delta farmland, the torrential downpours resulted in floodwaters that impacted 46 homes and 41 public roads in Tallahatchie County, according to June 16 figures from the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, reflecting numbers submitted by local EMA officials.
Assessments are ongoing, and any residents who sustained damage should report it to their property insurance carrier. In addition, anyone whose home took on water may also report that information to the Tallahatchie County Emergency Management Agency at 662-647-2540.
Farmers who suffered losses in the flood should report that damage to the FSA. The number of the Charleston office is 662-647-8857, ext. 2.
