Spring Break
Quincy nearly gets swept away (6/25/08)
Issue date: 7/2/08 Section: News
QUINCY (AP) - As floodwaters slowly recede in some Illinois counties along the Mississippi River, they can't move fast enough for officials keeping a weary eye on damaged crops and strained levees.
No homes or businesses had been lost by Tuesday along the 54-mile Sny levee south of Quincy, but seepage damaged already-planted crops and has kept farmers from planting more, officials said.
The Sny levee spans three counties - Adams, Pike and Calhoun.
Blake Roderick, executive director of the Pike and Scott County farm bureaus, said the damage in Pike County and its 300,000 crop acres has been heavy.
"We're probably close to 20 to 25 percent yield loss in this county on corn," he said. And "beans will have significant yield loss because of the late planting."
Pike County typically produces 160,000 to 170,000 bushels of corn, he said. The dollar loss will depend on the price of corn in the fall, but at corn's currently high prices, Pike County could be off nearly $300,000.
Just south in Monroe and Calhoun counties, officials are waiting for the water to fully recede to assess the crop damage.
"It's all under water and probably won't be planted any more this year," said Monroe County Sheriff Daniel Kelley. "They've got wheat that they can't harvest. They've got corn that's probably going to drown out from too much water."
In Calhoun County, Sheriff Bill Heffington lamented a weather forecast that called for the one thing farmers and residents don't need - more water.
"All this rain's coming, it ain't going to help anything," he said, noting the Illinois River, a Mississippi feeder, went up three inches Monday night.
And not all of the Mississippi has finished rising. The river isn't expected to complete its crest at Grafton, Alton, or Chester - in Randolph County south of St. Louis - until Thursday and Friday, according to forecasters.
But even at Chester, where the river will crest last, the prognosis has improved. The river originally was forecast to crest at 42 feet, but that's dropped to 38 feet.
No homes or businesses had been lost by Tuesday along the 54-mile Sny levee south of Quincy, but seepage damaged already-planted crops and has kept farmers from planting more, officials said.
The Sny levee spans three counties - Adams, Pike and Calhoun.
Blake Roderick, executive director of the Pike and Scott County farm bureaus, said the damage in Pike County and its 300,000 crop acres has been heavy.
"We're probably close to 20 to 25 percent yield loss in this county on corn," he said. And "beans will have significant yield loss because of the late planting."
Pike County typically produces 160,000 to 170,000 bushels of corn, he said. The dollar loss will depend on the price of corn in the fall, but at corn's currently high prices, Pike County could be off nearly $300,000.
Just south in Monroe and Calhoun counties, officials are waiting for the water to fully recede to assess the crop damage.
"It's all under water and probably won't be planted any more this year," said Monroe County Sheriff Daniel Kelley. "They've got wheat that they can't harvest. They've got corn that's probably going to drown out from too much water."
In Calhoun County, Sheriff Bill Heffington lamented a weather forecast that called for the one thing farmers and residents don't need - more water.
"All this rain's coming, it ain't going to help anything," he said, noting the Illinois River, a Mississippi feeder, went up three inches Monday night.
And not all of the Mississippi has finished rising. The river isn't expected to complete its crest at Grafton, Alton, or Chester - in Randolph County south of St. Louis - until Thursday and Friday, according to forecasters.
But even at Chester, where the river will crest last, the prognosis has improved. The river originally was forecast to crest at 42 feet, but that's dropped to 38 feet.
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