Wednesday, September 05, 2001

The Natchez Democrat

VIDALIA, La. – For rain-soaked Miss-Lou crops and the farmers

that tend them, things may be getting worse, according to experts.

Weather forecaster Chris Jacob, with the National Weather Service

in Jackson, said Concordia Parish farmers can expect another round

of thunderstorms and showers by the weekend. &uot;Right now we’re

getting back to our typical summer-time pattern,&uot; Jacob said.

&uot;But we’ll break that by Friday or Saturday with some pretty

substantial rain totals, and storms that are moving in. We should

stay dry the rest of the week, but we may have another severe

round by the weekend.&uot;

Jacob said models show a cold front pushing into the Southeast

by Friday or Saturday, and hanging around until at least Monday.

That’s not good news, according to Concordia Parish County

Agent Glen Daniels. &uot;We’re in a bad situation,&uot; he said.

&uot;It looked like a bumper crop this year. We’ve just had an

excessive amount of rainfall, and we don’t need any more.&uot;

Daniels said Concordia Parish collected 7.92 inches of rain

in August, while a research station in St. Joseph reported 3.97

inches.

In samples sent to Daniels from sorghum farmers, nearly half

was badly damaged, due to seed sprouting on the head of the plant.

The only crop that seems to be doing well is corn, Daniels

said. &uot;The corn is (OK),&uot; he said. &uot;It seems to

be holding up, but if we get any strong winds, we’ll be in trouble.&uot;