By Angela Hatton
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkms/local-wkms-968601.mp3
Bardwell, KY – Angela Hatton visited Carlisle County Wednesday to talk to a farmer who is still battling flooding on his land.
I meet Phillip Bean on a tractor in one of his fields. He, like many other farmers in western Kentucky, is taking advantage of the break in rain to plow and plant. Flooding has set farmers back nearly three weeks. Many low-lying fields still look like lake-beds. Bean hops into a truck for a tour around the farm.
Bean farms nearly 2600 acres. He says at the height of the flooding, better than half of it was underwater.
"Most of this low-lying ground is highly productive. Yes, it's got some cons that go with it. Uh, but as a whole, um, given the proper set of circumstances and year, this uh, this land will yield off quite well."
Now is an example of the cons. Bean says he has to plant in patches. When he gets to a spot that's too wet, he waits a day, then goes back to it.
"It's been rather slow. Being a fella that's worked, like I told you previously, I'm a third generation on a family farm. And we've always had river bottom ground. Generally when it recedes slowly, that's a good indication that it won't come back and get any higher."
Bean drives out toward a large plot that's still partially waterlogged.
"I hadn't been down here in a few days. Last time I was down here, the water was over the road, and I couldn't even get to a few fields that are down here. I'm kind of curious what this looks like."
Bean works to keep traction on the wet ground. The truck slips and slides; the tires throw up bits of mud. He so far hasn't been surprised by the high water. But as he rounds a corner toward a 60-acre section that looks like a swamp, his eyes go wide, and he shakes his head.
"Yeah, I've never seen it this high."
Bean turns the truck around, and heads back to his tractor. He'll have to wait a few more days before he tackles these fields. He has a farmer's stoicism about the situation.
"Y'know it's just life, and you gotta, you gotta go with the cards you're dealt, and that's just part of it."
Bean says he will likely still turn a profit this year. Demand is high in the corn and soybean markets, and lower yields could drive prices up further.
Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear has requested loan assistance from the USDA for farmers set back by rain and flooding. So far, the USDA hasn't promised anything.