Local Farmers deal with cold weather

While the most people see the wet and cold weather that has been hitting West Tennessee in recent weeks as no more then an annoyance, for area farmers it has been worse.

“we’re behind, calendar wise. With mother nature being cold, its just not time yet. The ground is still in the forty five degree range so we’re just waiting for it to warm up.”

Brent Griggs just one of many local West Tennessee farmers who have had to push back their corn planting dates due to the prolonged cold weather.

He says one of the main reasons for the delay is the soil consistency after all the rain.

“we got to get it dry, get some sunshine, the ground needs to be warm. The main thing is you can’t plant it in the mud, it’ll come up here and there and won’t be consistent.”

Griggs says that this is the second straight year he has been delayed planting corn and although he isn’t worried right now, if he starts to get delayed any longer it could be bad.

“right now, we didn’t start planting last year until April the seventh, we got pushed back last year too and planted up into the middle of may. I’m not worried now but if it stays rainy another week, I will be.”

Once the corn does get planted and ready for harvest in a few months, Griggs says he expects a good harvest

"The markets have turned up, we're starting to get a little gain on the markets, so that’s looking better for corn. So that makes us feel better and look forward to planting, as the prices have moved up a few cents, so that helps a lot."