Damage is extensive within Wapello County. The Des Moines River and many creeks and streams are thought to have erased their banks and redrawn the landscape. Terraces failed in some areas. As many as 20,000 acres of cropland may have severe damage.

Kastengren wouldn’t give an estimate on how widespread the damage is but said it is “at least as bad” as in 1993.

The FSA has a program to help rebuild damaged farmland. Kastengren said the agency will put out information on how farmers can sign on. The program has a 60-day window for enrollment, beginning Monday.

This year’s weather hit farmers hard from the start. A wet spring left little time to get crops into the fields before the floods. That matters for farmers with flood insurance.

“What they don’t realize until it actually hits them is their crop insurer will not fully compensate them unless they get their full crop [planted],” Kastengren said. “They’re looking at losing a year’s income.”

The blow is especially hard when everything pointed to a good season as 2008 dawned. Corn prices are high and farmers hoped for a strong crop. The combination raised hopes for a banner year for Iowa farmers.

Now things are so bad that Kastengren knows one farmer who tried to replant his soybean field by airplane.

Matt Milner can be reached at (641) 683-5359 or via e-mail at mwmilner@mchsi.com