Video: Local Farmers Work Through The Drought

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Columbus, Miss. (WCBI) — “It is bone dry right now.”

That was the sentiment of farmer Roy Weathers, who has been in the farming business for over 40 years.

He says this year’s drought is making work much more difficult.

“The worst case scenario for a root crop like peanuts, sweet potatoes, any kind of crop is a wet fall, that just kills you…”, explained Weathers, “…but the second worst is a fall so dry you can’t dig the crop and that’s what we’re facing right now.”

Weathers says the dirt is so dry that he deals with broken farming equipment almost every week.

WCBI meteorologist Isaac Williams said that roughly 34% of the state of Mississippi is currently experiencing extreme drought conditions.

The mark is the highest percentage that state has reached since July 2007.

Williams also says that the best chance of rain coming up is this Sunday and possibly midway into next week, but the outlook isn’t looking promising.

The National Weather Service reports the city of Jackson has recorded 1.57 inches of rain in the past 100 days, marking the driest 100 days ever recorded.