Cloudy skies over the Mississippi State Fair-Friday afternoon

The unusually wet weather pattern that has been in place across the South since September has taken its toll on crops and the Mississippi State Fair.

With the exception of a dry opening day on October 7th, rain has fallen each and everyday of the Mississippi State Fair up to October 15th, with over 3.5 to over 4.5 inches of recorded rainfall across the Jackson area.

This has of course led to very poor attendance at the State Fair so far.

This year’s attendance is down by 35 percent, according to the organizers.

The Mississippi State Fair is the largest revenue generator for the State Fair Commission and does not get any other state funding.

So in a effort to make up for the low attendance, officials announced Friday that the 150th Mississippi State Fair will be extended until Monday, with discounted prices for everyone.  The last day of the fair was originally scheduled for Sunday.

The extended day will be known as $2 MONDAY, offering fairgoers discounted prices on admission ($2), parking ($2), rides ($2), corndogs ($2), and other discounted food items offered by vendors.

This is the wettest Mississippi State Fair in 60 years.

Many areas have received over 20 inches of rainfall since September, especially across the northern half of the state.

This excessive amount of rain has ruined Mississippi crops and has cost farmers an estimated 337 million dollars in damage.

Only a small percentage of the 3.6 million acres of row crops: cotton, soybeans, sweet potatoes, corn and rice were harvested before heavy rains drenched and flooded fields throughout the state.

With too much water, root plants such as sweet potatoes have rotted in the ground.

Governor Haley Barbour has asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture to have its Mississippi office do loss assessments across the state, a preliminary step in earning a federal disaster declaration.