Mississippi farmers forced to leave thousands of acres unplanted this season

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Heavy rains in the Midwest this season continue to devastate farms along the Mississippi River.

Victoria Darden and her family usually plant around 1,100 acres of soybeans and corn in the Mississippi Delta, north of Vicksburg.

Jeffry Mitchell, in the same region, normally grows more than 6,000 acres of row crops on his family farm. This year, river water from the levee system has trapped water on both of their land for months.

The Mississippi Farm Board estimates more than 200,000 acres of farmland in the state are flooded. With more rain in the forecast and no pumps to redirect the water, the region’s farmers are still bracing for higher waters.