Busted levees may mean higher crop insurance rates for farmers

HOLT COUNTY, Mo. - Mark Sitherwood has been a farmer for most of his life. He and his wife still live in the house his father built. He farms several hundred acres south of Bigelow, a tiny town just off Interstate 29 in Holt County, rotating corn and soybeans.

He could only plant part of his usual corn crop last fall, and he's one of the lucky ones. Many of his neighbors were completely wiped out.

He said things may not turn around soon, and not just because of the land.

"We're waiting now, basically, for the levee system to be fixed in this whole county," he said.

The levees do more than keep the water out. They also keep his crop insurance premiums down. Because the levees were damaged last summer, their land won’t be protected if flooding comes back this year. Until breaches in the levees can be fixed, most farmers in Holt County won't be protected from either one.

"And that is the highest of high risks,” Sitherwood said. “That will put our flood insurance premium well over $100 an acre."

Last summer's flooding covered much of the county. Many roads still have scatter potholes, and you can still even see sandbags.

Water didn't completely recede until October, delaying levee inspections. County officials are scrambling to make sure repairs come in time for spring crops.

One challenge is that the levees are owned and maintained by individual levee districts. The county has no official role in their operation, but is still a valuable resource to help find state and federal funding for repairs. Some of the levee districts have already secured financial help, which will help speed repairs once the engineering preparation is complete.

"That would help the crop insurance,” said Holt County Clerk Kathy Kunkel. “We would be a lot closer to getting back to normal levy status, which would allow the crop insurance to come back down in cost."

If that doesn't happen, Sitherwood says he and his neighbors face a tough decision.

"I've talked to other producers and most people probably won't go with the higher rates,” he said. “They will go with the lower rate and the lower premium and hope for the best."

He said the soil at his farm wasn’t washed away or contaminated by chemicals in the flood water, but many of his neighbors weren’t so lucky. His farm is mostly ready to plant this spring, which may make his farm one of the few in operation this spring.

But with his farm of several hundred acres, possible several-fold increase in the cost of crop insurance may drive up his cost of farming.

County officials have been meeting with engineers and hope to have help for the levee districts soon.