Drought coupled with record high temperatures across the Midwest has left Missouri farmers speculating future crop yield and costs for 2013.

With a little more than a month left in the year, 2012 is well on its way to being the hottest year on record for parts of Missouri. In Columbia alone, 12 record-high temperatures have been recorded, ranging from winter to summer. The real issue for agriculture, though, was the lack of rain.

“Everything was planted early and growing ahead of schedule and the rain basically shut off,” said Jayson Gosselin, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service.

The U.S. Drought Monitor classified this summer as a period of “exceptional drought.”

JP Dunn, the manager of sealed services at the American Soybean Association, said the USDA has estimated 31 bushels of soybeans per acre for Missouri’s 2012 harvest, a small amount in comparison to the general amount of more than 40 bushels per acre.

At Fischer Farms in Jefferson City, corn was less than half of a normal crop.

One of the first indicators farmers examine for a good crop yield is soil moisture.

“From all over the state, the biggest concern is topsoil moisture – if we’re going to be starting out next year with a lot less soil moisture than this year, and if we don’t start getting that moisture built back up, we could be dealing with a lot worse crop yield than this year,” Jay Fischer of Fischer Farms said.

The last report from the National Agricultural Statistics Service indicated statewide topsoil moisture was considered 56 percent short.

“If we haven’t had rain by February, everyone is going to be worried,” Dunn said. “Then we need to start worrying about soil moisture.”

Fischer already has growing concerns about his soil moisture.

“We typically rip our soil at about 12 inches deep with a ripper plow,” Fischer said. “When you get down below about 6 inches, we’re getting big hunks of dry dirt … I can’t believe how dry it is.”

Most of Missouri is considered to be in moderate to severe drought.

The continuation of uncommonly high temperatures in December doesn’t worry farmers as much as the expected low rate of precipitation.

According to NASS, 77 percent of the stockwater supply is considered short or very short.

In northern Missouri towns, like Columbia and Kingdom City, farmer’s irrigation depends on lakes, which were predominantly emptied last summer due to the drought, Fischer said.

Other farmers depend on reservoirs, which are in similar situations as the lakes and wells, which become more expensive the deeper the drilling.

Even larger scales of water depletion can be found in the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.

“The (Missouri River) is abnormally low and no barge traffic can pass,” Fischer said. “The water in some places is at 6 feet. That’s as low as I can remember in years.”

The Army Corps of Engineers, responsible for the water levels of reservoirs and dams, can’t let out any water to sustain the rivers due to the low amount in them as well.

Most Missouri farmers depend on the barges going up and down the Missouri and Mississippi for not only their fertilizer but also transportation of the goods they sell.

“When you can’t move fertilizer on the river, all of it has to be moved by truck, and (the cost of) fuel is high,” Fischer said.

Dunn says one barge can hold an estimated 150 semi-loads of product.

The burden on farmers due to drought can add up quickly, especially with a drought two years in a row.

Farmers still continue to remain optimistic toward Mother Nature.

“A farmer is an eternal optimist,” said Fischer. “You just got to say you’ll do better next year.”