As the cities of Moorhead, Minn., and next-door Fargo nervously wait for the Red River’s expected crest on Sunday at 20 feet above the flood stage, some of the region’s farmland is already under water after smaller rivers, swollen with melting snow, overflowed. Even fields that aren’t buried in water are so saturated that they look like vast expanses of squishy black mud.
At this point it’s mostly an inconvenience, growers say. Spring planting is a month or more away for crops such as corn, soybeans and sugar beets. If the rain holds off and unusually warm temperatures don’t melt the remaining snowpack too rapidly over the next few weeks, the waters could recede, enabling a decent or even good growing season.
But a worst-case scenario — heavy spring rains and prolonged flooding well into April — could spell trouble for this year’s crops, while also causing problems for livestock producers during the crucial calving season.
Full story: Fargo Floods Turn Farm Fields Into Sprawling Lakes – ABC News