How local farmers say they have been affected by excess rain this season

MILAN, Tenn. — It may be sunny and mostly dry for now, but excessive rains earlier this year have created some problems for local farmers.

“Well, it has delayed planning this year compared to previous years,” Green Acres owner Denton Parkins said. “Farmers are already challenged with weather every year. It’s just something we have to deal with, and it’s different every year.”

Parkins says these last few days have been great for farmers to get out in the fields to catch up.

“Usually we get through it,” Parkins said. “The equipment is larger today, and when the ground is dry, the equipment gets to rolling, they catch up pretty quick.”

Late winter and early spring are the best times to plant crops such as corn, beans and cotton. This year, though, planting corn was pushed back almost a month.

“Corn is being planted right now, and it’s probably not going to do as well as corn that was planted first or middle April,” said Blake Brown, director of the UT Ag Research and Education Center in Milan.

According to Brown, the revenue for corn won’t be as great as last year.

“There is an optimum time to plant for these crops,” Brown said. “And when we don’t hit that optimum planning window, we start losing yield.”

Parkins says fortunately he hasn’t run into any issues with his crops this year.

“So far we have not been challenged with too much rainfall, and the forecast looks great,” Parkins said.

He does say strawberries are a little bit sensitive to extra amounts of rainfall but says so far they have not seen any issues with their strawberry patches this season.

“We’ve been picking about a week. Business has been excellent,” Parkins said. “Quality and flavor of the berries have been off the charts. We’re on for what looks to be a great season.”

The only things farmers have to do now is to try to get as much done this season as they can.

“If we get general rains throughout the rest of the season, we still got potential to make a good crop,” Brown said.

Parkins says May tends to be a wet month for Gibson County but says he has no worries about the rest of the planting season.