Adding Up Crop Losses From Midwest Floods

Adding Up Crop Losses From Midwest Floods
The hardest-hit state is Iowa, the leading corn state and last year's top soybean producer. Transcript of radio broadcast:
24 June 2008

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Farmers in parts of the American Midwest face a difficult recovery after the worst flooding in fifteen years. Storms that flooded rivers and drowned crops have been blamed for at least twenty-fourth deaths since late May.


The floods displaced tens of thousands of people in several states across America's agricultural heartland. There are concerns that crop losses could push already-high food prices even higher.
Fertile lands in some states could be mistaken for lakes. The mighty Mississippi River broke through or flowed over the tops of dirt levees in Iowa, Illinois and Missouri.

The floods hit hardest in Iowa, the leading corn state and also the top soybean producer last year. Thirty-eight centimeters of rain fell on some cropland over a two-week period. Governor Chet Culver has declared most counties as disaster areas. Iowa officials have said that crop damage in that state could reach three billion dollars.

The United States Department of Agriculture is expected to announce estimates of crop losses in the coming days. The department is being urged to let farmers plant corn on land set aside for conservation.

Some farmers may replant corn. Others may replace corn with soybeans. What farmers do now depends partly on the extent of damage to the land. Floodwaters in some areas may contain industrial waste or other harmful substances.

What the weather does during the rest of the growing season will also be important.

Rain delays have left soybean planting behind the five-year average in twelve of eighteen major soybean-producing states. Other crops including wheat, rice and oats have also suffered.

In Burlington, Iowa, as many as fifty trains normally pass through the city every day, mostly carrying coal or passengers. But Burlington is quiet now until water is off the rails and workers can inspect for damage. City Manager Doug Worden says Burlington took steps to prevent severe property damage after the record floods of fifteen years ago.

While the Midwest deals with recent flooding, the nation's top agricultural state, California, faces increasingly dry conditions. On June fourth, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a statewide drought, the first such action since nineteen ninety-one. The order followed two years of below-average rainfall and other limitations on water supplies.

And that’s the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson and Jill Moss.

----------------------------Google Translate
加入了作物损失，从中西部地区的洪涝灾害
最难的受灾国家是爱荷华州，领导国家和玉米去年的顶端大豆生产国。全文电台广播：
2008年6月24日

这是美国之音特别英语农业的报告。

农民在部分美国中西部地区面临着一个困难的复苏后，最严重的洪患，在十五年。暴风雨淹没的河流和溺毙的作物已造成至少20次死亡，自5月下旬。


洪水流离失所，数万人在几个国家全美各地的农业地带。有人担心，作物损失可能推已高的食品的价格甚至更高。
土地肥沃，在某些国家可能被误为湖泊。伟大的密西西比河，冲破或流入超过毛条污垢堤防在爱荷华州，伊利诺伊州和密苏里州。

洪水打击，在爱荷华州，领导国家和玉米也顶端大豆的生产者去年。三十八厘米雨下跌，一些耕地超过两个星期内。总督域culver已宣布大部分县为灾区。爱荷华州官员说，作物损害在该国可能达到30.0亿美元。

美国农业部门预计将宣布的估计作物损失在未来的日子。该署现正呼吁让农民植物玉米的土地预留保护。

有些农民可能补种玉米。其他可能取代玉米与大豆。农民现在要做的部分取决于损害程度，以土地。洪水在某些领域可能含有工业废料或其他有害物质。

什么天气是否在其余的生长季节也将是重要的。

大雨延误，已离开大豆种植背后的5年平均水平在12对18的主要大豆生产国。其他作物包括小麦，大米和燕麦也受损。

在伯灵顿，艾奥瓦，多达50列车，通常通过市，每天大多是进行煤或乘客。但伯灵顿是安静即日起至水是关闭的铁轨和工人可以检查的损害。城市经理道格沃登说，伯灵顿采取步骤，以防止严重的财产损失后，记录的洪水十五年前。

而中西部地区的交易与最近的水浸，全国顶尖的农业国家，加利福尼亚州，面临着越来越多的干旱情况。 6月第四，州长阿诺史瓦辛格宣布全州干旱，第一这种行动自1991年。该命令之后的两年低于平均水平的降雨情况和其他限制对水的供应。

这是该美国之音特别英语农业的报告，书面，由jerilyn沃森和小杰苔。