By Dewey Terrill

JC Post

This wet spring and early summer is having an impact on everything from farm production to trees and recreation.

Geary County Extension Agent Chuck Otte said the “water system is full” and described it as “absolutely saturated” from Hays east through Kansas, meaning rainfall received will cause water to runoff.

In Geary County as in other locations the weather has posed a challenge for farmer producers trying to  plant crops. Otte stated there was a two-week window where they could get in the fields to plant crops. “A lot of soybeans are coming up standing in water right now. No crop that we grow can take a lot of standing water. Corn can take some, soybeans can’t take very much at all. There’s going to be impacts when it’s all said and done.” The wheat harvest will also be late this year, and it’s possible combines may not be cutting in the fields until July. The fields are muddy and the wheat has not dried down at this point.

Otte said when it comes to trees he’s probably seen as many them go down as he has seen in the past three years. “Broken up from stores or literally tip over where they stand. A lot of trees are having leaf diseases right now.”

Recreation has been impacted as well. Milford Lake is open but many campsites and boat docks have had to be closed due to high water.

The Corps of Engineers prepared to release 5,000 cubic feet of water from Milford Lake on Tuesday with the forecast calling for that to increase to 7,000 cfs on Wednesday. There were flood warnings for minor lowland flooding along the Smoky Hill River and Lyons Creek earlier this week,