The rains have become a serious matter for landowners in Montgomery and Carroll County as one of the worse case of flooding in recent history becomes a peril for their crops.
The lands have become saturated with water and crops are basically doomed this year leaving farmers with no place to turn.
Ernie Flint, a 38-year veteran area extension agent, is an agronomy and crop specialist for Attala, Montgomery and Carroll counties. For Flint, this has been a year of historic but drastic proportion.
"We've never had anything like this since 1957," Flint said. "The rains in September through November resulted in about 12 inches a month."
Other state agriculture officials say heavy rains and partial sunshine this month is threatening to damage the state's major row crops unless dry weather returns soon to allow harvest to finish.
The area's primary crops corn, cotton and soybean have been all but ruined in the rainfall that dates back to the start of autumn.
According to Flint, most of the cotton in the region is feared lost and may not be spared even when the rains have ceased.
"The cotton has already begun to rot in the fields," Flint said. "There is no remedy for this. We are backed into a corner."
As for the soybeans, Flint said that some of the beans were ready in August and the remaining beans could be salvaged if the rains were to stop. Soybeans are most at risk now because the bulk of the state's crop was ready or almost ready for harvest when wet weather rolled into the state last month.
Trey Koger, soybean specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said the crop is only about 25 percent harvested. "This rain is not doing any good for about 60 percent of the state's soybean acreage," Koger said. "About 20 percent of the crop is benefitting because it was planted late."
The corn in the area is all but ruined, according to Flint, but much of it has been harvested.
Officials say corn crop was about 75 percent harvested when the recent round of rains began. Corn fields in the south Delta and southern part of the state are mostly harvested while the northeastern part of the state is somewhat behind schedule.
Erick Larson, Extension corn specialist, said that corn is mature, but once it reaches maturity, it is at a relatively high moisture content that is not fit for safe storage in grain bins. Larson said farmers let it dry in the fields until it gets to a level that is much more practical for on-farm and commercial storage.
Cotton too has suffered a tremendous blow during the rains. Flint, who travels both Montgomery and Carroll counties about twice a week, said the cotton that is opened so far has been damaged or ruined.
"People say this is the worse they've ever seen," Flint said. "But this is an unprecedented loss of investment and crop. It is a big loss financially."
Flint recalls 1995 when an insect infestation caused a financial burden on many of the farmers in the state and took several years for them to get back on track.
"I think this is worst than 1995," Flint said. "But the farmers are trying to keep a positive attitude. That's all you can do."
Flint said the region hit the worst will be the farmland near the tributaries of the Big Black River. Flint said flooding tributaries have saturated the lands.
"The grounds simply can't soak up any more water," Flint said.
Flint said agriculture is a way of life for some and Keith McGee the Montgomery County Supervisor and Duck Hill resident could not agree with him more.
"I've been farming since I was a teenager," McGee said. "And this is the worst I've ever seen."
McGee said 80 percent of his soybeans have rotted due to the rains and hopes farmlands can be declared as disaster areas.
"I was very pleased early on and I thought this was the best crop I ever had," McGee said. "The Good Lord knows best."
McGee said he also survived the 1995 season and the drought of 2006.
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