JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The spring planting season is well underway in Missouri, with an excess of rainfall forcing farmers to shift their strategies, and in some cases, they are having to replant all over again.

The University of Missouri reports there are approximately 87,600 farms and 27 million acres being farmed in Missouri. The report shows half of Missouri’s land is in production agriculture.

The UM report also shows a mixed bag heading into growing season: Outputs for crops like corn, cotton, hay, and rice are projected to decline in overall numbers this year, yet soybean production is projected to increase in 2025.

But with that much farmland spread out across every region of the state, the variables that present itself each year to one farmer in Missouri may not be exactly what farmers on the other side of the state are facing.

“You know, that’s the beauty of Missouri,” Diehl, a GOP representative from Butler in his first term. “It’s pretty diverse.”

More than 130 miles north of Butler, a city in Bates County along the Kansas border, the conditions have been pretty exceptional, minus an ongoing dry spell that, as of the recent drought monitor, shows parts of northwest and northeast Missouri falling under abnormally dry conditions.

“I think we’re doing quite good,” Mark Hall, a farmer from Holt County in the extreme northwest portion of the state, said. “The corn is in and started to sprout but we’re still working to get in the (soy)beans.”

Hall said once things dry down, more and more of his farming neighbors will finish planting. He said one of the main reasons to get the plants in early is to have them harvest early, which makes it easier for them to move and sell crops ahead of his neighbors. Not out of pride, but because most farmers share equipment and there can be a rush to get the crops to market.

But just across the Missouri River into Kansas, it’s a different story as much of the state is dealing with some sort of drought.

While every farmer will tell you they need the rain, some caution that too much rain over a short period of time can setback farmers who have to replant seeds.

“That’s a reality,” said Diehl. “Since it’s wet and continuing to be wet, we’re at the discretion of the weather.”

But weather rarely stops farmers from making their living.