Flooded out, farmers find work rebuilding the levees that failed them
“We keep tightening our belts, but we’re running out of holes,” one farmer said.
PERCIVAL, Iowa — Pat Sheldon got a little more than 70 acres of soybeans planted this season. His son put in around 250, but that’s just a small fraction of the 2,500 acres of corn and soybean his family normally plants every year.
Instead of the lush green of skinny cornstalks and leafy soybean bushes that Sheldon, 57, would expect to see right now, his farm this year is surrounded by tall yellow weeds and vast stretches of brown, muddy water.
Like many waterways in the Midwest, increased snowmelt and rain in March caused the Missouri River to overtop the levee systems that protected small towns and farmland nestled along its snake-like channel. Rain and floodwaters then returned in May. Five months later, much of that water remains, making the land unusable.
more:
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/flooded-out-farmers-find-work-rebuilding-levees-failed-them-n1043536
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