By Angela Hatton
Mayfield, KY – Farmers in far western Kentucky will have to wait for some time for their fields to dry out before they can start planting corn. Graves County Extension Agent Kenny Perry says the biggest concern is that the wet weather has washed away some of the fertilizers and pesticides farmers put down earlier this spring. Perry says 2011 follows a trend of tough years for western Kentucky farmers.
"The last couple of have been so difficult, that I'm not saying they're getting numb to it, but they're getting accustomed to it. And so they're gonna adapt, and if things dry out, we've got the capability to put a lot of corn in the ground in a hurry."
Perry says Graves County farmers need about a week of dry weather before they can start planting. Hickman County Extension Agent Darian Irvan says it could be early June before the water runs off the flooded fields in the river counties. Yields typically drop one percent each day after May 15, if corn isn't planted by then.