Farmers are worried that flooding along the Missouri River may threaten cropland in the western Corn Belt, which they hoped would provide a strong harvest in the fall to make up for expected shortfalls in the eastern U.S. Midwest, according to reports.
Analysts estimated that between 300,000 and 800,000 acres of farmland for corn and soybeans in Iowa and Nebraska may be threatened by floods. Farmers who have been unable to plant corn because of the rain and flooding in the eastern Corn Belt were considering planting different crops or collecting insurance payments to get by this year.
Total planted corn acreage in Iowa, the largest corn-producing state, and Nebraska, the third-largest, was expected to be 23.4 million acres this year. Planting was 98% complete for corn in Iowa and 94% complete in Nebraska.