Agricultural Summary

The Army Corps of Engineers activated the Birds Point – New Madrid Floodway on May 2, flooding parts of Mississippi and New Madrid Counties. Continued rain in the southeast district (Bootheel) added to the widespread flooding. Over the past week the St. Francis River and Mississippi River crested while the Little River Drainage ditches were filled to capacity. Nearly 600,000 acres divided between 10 southeastern counties were flooded. Less than 1 day was suitable for fieldwork in the Bootheel, but the State averaged 3.4 days suitable for fieldwork. Pleasantly warm sunny conditions accompanied by warm winds allowed nearly 4 to 6 days suitable for all districts except the east-central, south-central, and the southeast. Topsoil moisture supply was 1 percent short, 64 percent adequate, and 35 percent surplus. Hampered by the wet spring, the State was at 63 percent of ground worked, 16 days behind last year, and 2 days behind the 5-year average (normal).

Field Crops Report

Corn planted was 59 percent, 16 days behind last year, and 1 day behind normal. The northwest saw the greatest jump from last week with 78 percent planted, followed by the central district at 64 percent. The south-central district and the Bootheel made no progress due to the wide-spread flooding and continued cool, cloudy weather. Corn emergence was 28 percent, 6 days behind normal. Soybeans were 7 percent planted, 6 days behind last year, and 3 days behind normal. Cotton planting was 2 percent complete, 23 days behind last year and 21 days behind normal. Only some high ground in Dunklin County was suitable for planting. Rice planting was 14 percent complete, 26 days behind last year, and 19 days behind normal. Rice emergence was 10 percent complete. Flood waters will need to abate before much progress can be made with cotton and rice planting. Sorghum planted was at 5 percent, compared to 17 percent last year, and 10 points behind normal. The winter wheat crop continued to be above average with 58 percent headed, 6 days ahead of last year and 3 days ahead of normal. Winter wheat condition declined slightly to 8 percent very poor, 16 percent poor, 34 percent fair, 37 percent good, and 5 percent excellent. The Bootheel rated 49 percent poor to very poor this week, a 30 point decline from last week.

Pasture & Livestock

Pasture conditions remained similar to last week with 4 percent poor, 37 percent fair, 48 percent good, and 11 percent excellent. Conditions improved slightly in the northeast although there was some backwater flooding along the Mississippi, Salt, and Cuivre River bottoms.

Weather Summary

Precipitation averaged 1.35 inches state-wide with the Bootheel leading the state, yet again, with 4.77 inches. Temperatures were 1 degree above average to 5 degrees below average in the northern districts. The rest of the state averaged 3 to 7 degrees below average.