Local counties see agricultural losses due to April flooding

JACKSON, Tenn. — Portions of northwest Tennessee are finally seeing the true damage of the flooding from early April.

West Tennessee received roughly one-quarter of its average annual rainfall between April 2 and April 5.

After the storm subsided, record flooding moved in, breaking record crests in Dyer and Obion counties that have stood since 1937.

SEE ALSO: Record flooding along Obion River, mandatory evacuation orders issued

Terrell Davis with the Dyer County UT Extension Office met us in west Jackson to talk about the damages.

“A lot of our irrigation in Dyer County is in this floodplain so there were some pivots that were damaged. There were motors still in pivots that got flooded that’ll have to be replaced and that’s another expense,” said Davis.

Davis did not have a certain answer for a damage estimate, as farmers are still working to get all the numbers they need for labor, damaged equipment, damaged soil and any replanting.

Although there’s no damage estimates yet, Davis recommends that farmers document all damages before meeting with FEMA or the USDA.

“It’s very important that farmers document before they clean up, but you really need to take as many pictures as you can take, be able to document the damage that you have because there probably will be a time when you have to submit those to USDA or FEMA or somewhere else. Documentation is incredibly important. And the other thing is that it’s important to start a case with USDA probably before you ever go and see FEMA,” said Davis.

This year, we can expect to see a reduction in soybean production, but an increase in product prices is not expected from the flooding.

Some wheat fields are a total loss and acres of corn will need to be re-planted.

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