© AP Photo/Nati Harnik
Jeff Jorgenson looks over a partially flooded field he farms near Shenandoah, Iowa, earlier this year. About a quarter of his land was lost this year to Missouri River flooding, and much of his remaining property has been inundated with heavy rain and water from the neighboring Nishnabotna River.
Jeff Jorgenson looks over a partially flooded field he farms near Shenandoah, Iowa, earlier this year. About a quarter of his land was lost this year to Missouri River flooding, and much of his remaining property has been inundated with heavy rain and water from the neighboring Nishnabotna River.
In an email to AccuWeather at the time, Brummels predicted, "There will be a lot of acres not planted."
Turns out, a record-setting number of acres were not planted, as farmers have filed for prevented planning coverage in never-before-seen numbers. In 2019, there have been 11.21 million Prevented Planting corn acres and 4.35 million acres for soybeans, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Farm Services Agency.
The previous record for Prevented Planting corn acres was 3.6 million acres in 2013, and for soybeans it was 2.2 million in 2015, according to Thomson Reuters' Karen Braun.
"I have worked for the Risk Management Agency for over 19 years and the scope of the prevented planting impacts this year is much larger than I've ever seen," Matt Mitchell, chief, Loss Adjustment Standards branch of the USDA Risk Management Agency, told AccuWeather.
Comment: What with extreme weather conditions and a trade war with China, US farmers are facing Farmageddon. It is no wonder that these conditions are wreaking havoc on their mental health. See also: