RAYMOND, Miss. -- Mississippi’s watermelon producers face a tough year as summer rains diminish what they had expected would be a good crop.

“The crop looked really good until all the rain started,” said Heath Steede, Mississippi State University Extension Service agent in George County.

Watermelons require the right balance of rain, sun and warm temperatures to reach peak size and sweetness. Rains early in the growing season help melons grow to the proper size, but excess rain later in the season can introduce diseases, allow those diseases to spread faster and cause melons to ruin.

Steede said he is seeing plenty of ruined melons in fields in the southeast corner of the state where most of Mississippi’s watermelons are grown. George County alone has watermelon production on 1,500 to 2,000 acres.

“As in years past when it starts raining every day, the vines start to rapidly decline. The melons will start to get water spots on them that make the melons unmarketable,” he said.

Water-soaked spots appear on melons when the fruit gets too much rain. These spots appear as slight blemishes when harvested but break open and leak within 24 hours of harvest.

Steede said this year is reminiscent of the excess rain producers saw eight years ago.

“This year has been a lot like 2017 with excessive rain, which not only hurts the melons but also makes it more difficult to get them out of the field. Overall, I’d say this has not been a very good year for our local growers.”

While north Mississippi has fewer watermelon producers than the southeastern portion of the state, those producers are experiencing the same issues with the wet weather.

“They were late getting the crop planted mainly because of the rain,” said Steven Tucker, MSU Extension agent in Pontotoc County. “Then the rain hurt the quality of the melons. I’d say overall our crop is in poor condition right now.”

Another challenge Tucker’s producers have is nuisance wildlife eating the melons.

“One of my growers is having increased issues with crows damaging the melons right now,” he said. “The best thing to do is to try to deter them at first chance.

“Racoons, deer and coyotes can also damage a watermelon crop.”

But when it comes to the weather, watermelon producers are not alone, Tucker said.

“They are just like all my other row crop producers,” he said. “They have gotten pushed back on planting. The rain is hurting everyone. I’ve got somebody who has between 200 and 500 acres that they haven’t been able to plant. And we’re getting past that window. They may not be able to plant at all.”