A farmer in the Missouri Bootheel says he will start to drain rice fields this week.

Mike Martin says harvest is 2 to 3 weeks away.

“The crop is making good progress, he says. “When the rice starts to head, we’ll watch it. The seeds are starting to turn a light tan color and then, they’ll start to mature.”

Martin says it was a dry growing season, which challenged the crop at times, but the rice was planted early and that could bring good yield.

“This year, we had ideal conditions and everyone was able to get the crop in on time.”

Martin tells Brownfield he continues to monitor the weather outlook, because Hurricane season can affect harvest progress.

Published Date: August 17, 2023