Weather impacts caused late planting season across central U.S., including West TN

MADISON COUNTY, Tenn. — West Tennessee is known for its agriculture, where wheat, soybeans and cotton are planted.

Some farmers say this planting season is behind for crops such as corn. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, this is the slowest planting season nationwide since 1995.

The month of May tends to be the wettest month of the season for west Tennessee, but last month was drier than normal.

“We need a slow rain,” said Jake Mallard, University of Tennessee – Madison County Extension Agent in Production Agriculture. “Not a fast rain, not a hard rain. Just a slow steady rain.”

Although it’s been a much needed break from the excessive rains earlier in the year, the heavy rain prevented some crops being planted on time.

“We got behind with planting with corn because of wet conditions in the soil,” said Mallard. “We didn’t want to plant and rot the seeds, so we waited and waited and it dried out.”

Midwest states have been impacted by flooding and excessive rains, which have halted planting all together. According to the USDA, nationwide 92.8 million acres of corn was expected to be planted . As of June 2, only 67 percent of the country’s corn crop has been planted — normally 96 percent complete by this time. In West Tennessee, planting timing varied per county.

“The northern counties in West Tennessee — Lake County, Obion County, Dyer County, they have been getting more rains then we have here,” said Mallard. “So it’s been a little bit more of a struggle for them to get planted.”

Right now Mallard says some of the corn crop planted may not be the best, but it could have been worse.

“You don’t really know what mother nature is going to throw at you,” said Mallard. “You gotta kind of roll on your heels and be ready to go at any given time.”

According to the USDA, about 1,000 acres of corn were not planted in the state of Tennessee. You can find out more about this study by clicking here.