Wetter spring brings relief to Missouri farmers, but the effects of drought linger

Most of Missouri is now drought-free after a wetter-than-normal start to spring, but local farmers can still see the remnants of recent dry years.

"We have a few structures that are still very low compared to where they were historically, like five years ago," says Andy Clay, referring to the reservoirs on his farm in northern Moniteau County. He can still see the water line from when ponds were filled years ago.

Andy is the Vice President of the Missouri Farm Bureau and runs a dual row-crop and cattle operation at Clay Farms. Despite a dry start to the year, he says things are good this season.

"We were drier for a lot of January and February, so that allowed planting season to get started just a touch sooner," he explains, adding that dry ground is much easier to work in than mud. "I don't mind a drier winter because we're not traipsing around in mud all winter long trying to do chores."

But after a record-hot start to spring, Andy had to buy extra crop insurance to plant earlier. "We started soybeans on March 25th this year. That was the start date that we paid up for," he says, "Never had planted soybeans that early." That's almost a month earlier than when he usually plants soybeans in mid-April.

Luckily, rainfall has also been above average recently. Over the past 90 days, most of Missouri has received more rainfall than normal, except the bootheel, where nearly 7% of the state is in extreme drought. "Mother Nature showed up quickly, which we always will never turn down a rain in the springtime, that's for sure," Andy says with a smile.

Any relief is welcome after years of dry weather, he says. "So, from 3 or 4 years ago through the continued drought that we were having, some of the bigger rains, like what we had a few days ago, are obviously helpful."

On the livestock side, he says consumers can still expect high prices for things like hamburgers due to supply and demand. "This beef cycle we've been going through with lower numbers, but the demand is still there. So it's keeping prices up on our end, which is also keeping the prices up a little bit in the store," Andy explains.

As for the rest of the season, Andy is hopeful that Mother Nature will continue to bring more rain through the summer. Unfortunately, there's so much out of our control. Mother Nature always trumps all."