WESTON, Mo. — Ninety-eight percent of Missouri is facing drought-like conditions.
The drought condition is so bad in Missouri that Governor Jay Nixon has asked for a federal assessment, which is the first step before declaring an area a disaster.
Farmer Louis Smither took FOX 4 on a tour of his farm in Weston.
Smither says he planted 85 acres of soybeans in May and while it typically takes 3-5 days for the seeds to germinate, he says some of the seeds sat in the ground for a month before they sprouted because they didn’t have water. That’s why so many of his soybean plants are different sizes.
Up the hill, Smither has 85 acres of corn. While it looks good right now, there’s no guarantee it will grow without rain.
Smithers hopes to harvest 50 bushels an acre, but he says he’ll be thankful if he gets a harvest at all.
“I think it looks better than pulling one of these down and finding no kernels which is what some of these are going to be if it doesn’t rain,” he said.
“I’m hoping that mother nature helps you out,” Smither said. “It takes a lot of money to gamble. And farming basically is kind of a gamble.”