Crop Tour Day 4 - Unique Agricultural Practices of the Missouri Bootheel

By: Aiden Currah, Jacob Early, & Kiara Driscoll

The Bootheel of Missouri is unlike any other region in the Midwest. Originating from the same glacial movement that formed the Missouri river, the Missouri Delta which makes up most of the bootheel was left in swamp after the Missouri River waters recited. The western region of the Delta contains a higher clay content, while the more east you go extremely sandy soils can be found. However, the soil composition can be variable in some places with pockets spread thought-out the delta. In 1910 the United States Army Engineering Corp built the railroad through the delta and proceeded to drain the swamp. Draining the swamp was a massive undertaking, it’s said by local farmers that they moved more soil digging ditches than they did building the Panama Canal. These ditches run to the south for every mile throughout the delta converging into larger main drainage ditches running to Arkansas and the Mississippi River. Effectively turning the swamp into high value arable land, ideal for cash cropping.  

Originally, land only sold for $1USD per acre prior to being drained in 1910. Local rice producers Scott Wheeler Farm’s shares when they started, land was $2,000 USD per acre and now it’s reaching up to $15,000 USD per acre. Contrastingly, in the rest of Missouri most agriculture production is accounted from lumber exports. Additionally, like most of the Midwest majority of the crop land in the Missouri Bootheel is irrigated. However, what sets the Bootheel region apart is that its wells in the area dug at 60-70ft and in general in the wet season the water table can over flow and be as high at 5ft in low spots. In other Midwestern states such as Arkansas wells are 600ft and water is not as plentiful. This led to Arkansas taking water out of the Bootheel aquifers, however new regulations have put an end to this. This almost guaranteed access to water provides a low risk cropping environment. For this reason, Bootheel farmers have more predictable cash flows and an easier time acquiring substantial levels of credit. Additionally, in the region Farm Credit provides the sunrise program for first time farmers making $250,000 or less or are under the age of 40. Today we got to see this uniqueness shine while visiting local rice and cotton farms.  

The Wheeler family welcomed us to the largest rice producing operation in Missouri. They mentioned how they are just rice farmers as it is a high value crop. They grow soybeans every other year and it is strictly just a rotation crop for them. They are the farthest state north that can grow rice because of the abundance of aquifer water in the area. They irrigate all of their land by poly pipe irrigation and noted that this is more efficient as there is less water pooling. They do not have irrigation records, but Justin estimated that 30 inches of water is required per acre over the flooding season that starts June 1st and lasts until harvest. The soil type fluctuates within their fields with it mainly being sharky clay, which is ideal for growing crops as it holds water when flooding the best, where sandier soils will take more water, as it drains away quicker. Fields need to be checked daily for water levels to ensure crops are always saturated. A disadvantage to the pivot irrigation from the aquifer is cold water stunting which can be seen in the rice fields by this irrigation as the water is coming out of the ground around 55°F. 

There is low insect and disease pressure, but weeds, most commonly grasses, are a large issue. They have few limitations on chemicals and can spray to eliminate weeds but interestingly with the irrigation and large amount of water available in the area, this can help lower weed pressure in the fields. Even though rice is planted very shallow at ½ to ¾ inches, they do need to wait for the soil to warm up to ensure good emergence and do grow shorter growing season varieties due to be more north. 

After harvest, they do a burndown of their fields by lighting them on fire, crazy I know! They say they do have to be careful and do it at the right winds and must be most careful by their highway fields as they do not want the smoke to cause an accident. The reason they usually choose to burn down over conventional tillage is because the growing season is too short and with having the residue in the soil it prevents it from drying as quickly, especially in clay soils where it is preferred to plant in unsaturated soils. 

A local rice agronomist, Wendell met with us on the farm even though he only does some agronomy consultation for the Wheeler family, he is highly relied on from other farmers in the area from helping them chose a variety, to setting their planter and then walking the field once a week for the 22-week season. With rice being one of the biggest money-making crops this year, there is a lot of trust in Wendell and other agronomists in the area when working with a high value crop like rice. Overall, we gained an abundance of knowledge learning how they can grow rice due the unique ability of having local aquifers supply more than enough water for the plants.