Drought threatens wetlands and waterfalls, diminishes water supplies, reduces crop yield, increases the risk of forest fires and disrupts livestock production.

A drought is a prolonged period of little or no rainfall, causing severe water shortages and agricultural damage.

This spring Mississippi, along with most of the country, is experiencing a highly unusual drought situation while starting the growing season. Twenty-one Mississippi counties have already been designated as primary disaster areas by the USDA. Commissioner Andy Gipson shared, “It’s hitting our farmers and producers at a critical time. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor our state is being affected by moderate to exceptional drought conditions throughout the entire state. Common row crops and commodities producing rice, soybeans, cotton, corn and cattle are directly affected by drought conditions. (Mississippi Department of Agriculture)
Living in the Prairie allows me to see these fields every day in every direction. Lowndes and Clay Counties are primarily classified between “Abnormally Dry and Moderate Drought.” State climatologists note the developing drought is rare for Mississippi.

For several weeks I’ve noticed fields around us have turned into row-crops for agriculture planting. I love this. Rows are beautiful and soon crops will grow. A friend once wrote a poem about row crops, the days when farmers took pride in making each row in perfect alignment. How the row laid out often determined the farmer’s particular land. During that time horses and mules worked the land. The part between rows was called “middles” where the animals could walk and not damage the crop. Nowadays rows are managed by agricultural machinery. We can only hope and pray that torrential rain like the one we saw last week will nourish the ground, encourage the crops and bring in a bounty. According to Farm Fact Friday, it has been noted there are approximately 874 million acres of farmland in the United States. Farm Fact continues that women play a vital role in the industry, making up 36% of U.S. farm operators, with 58% of all farms having at least one female decision-maker.

You may have heard sayings about rows like “that’s a hard row to hoe,” referring to difficulties. There are times when weeds have to be pulled up by either hoe or hands.

According to Farm Fact Friday, corn is the most planted crop in the U.S. by acreage, covering about 93 million acres. Personally, I love to see corn growing, not because I love corn so much but because I know it serves many different needs, including feeding the deer.

Cattle and calves, corn, and soybeans are the top three U.S. farm products. Besides riding by fields of growing crops here in the Prairie, I love driving by cattle herds seeing cow-calves in pairs, steers and heifers grazing in grasslands. Cows are social, emotional animals that can form close bonds with humans, nuzzling, and resting their head on people. Even from afar, they are so beautiful.

Shannon Bardwell is a writer living quietly in the Prairie. Email reaches her at [email protected].