Floods Challenge Midwest Farmers
April 26,2013
Farmers in the U.S. midwest are anxious to plant crops. But heavy rains and record flooding are preventing them from heading to the fields. This comes after a record drought last year that destroyed corn and soy crops in some of the most fertile fields in the country. Farmers in Illinois are watching the waters rise as the clock ticks on planting season.
On his land outside Peoria, Darrel Kammeyer is keeping one eye on the rising Illinois River and another on the only thing standing between it and his farmland, a seven-meter-tall levee.
"It was constructed to hold back the Illinois River so that this ground would not become a flood plain," he said.
Planting concerns
As the water level rises, Kammeyer patrols the levee in an all-terrain vehicle. With the river now just half a meter below the top of the levee, Kammeyer said his biggest concern is not what could spill over, but what could slip underneath.
"Right now we have to watch about the levee getting saturated and water trying to seep underneath of it. So we watch for spots that might be a potential problem," he said.
Kammeyer knows that if a significant amount of water breaches the levee, that would prevent him from planting his fields.
Kammeyer has so far been able to avoid the Illinois River's wrath. Peoria, however, was not as fortunate.
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