By Mary Hightower
Arkansas rice acres shifted to other crops, leaving the nation’s No. 1 grower with the fewest rice acres in 50 years, according to the Acreage Report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Tuesday’s report differs from the Prospective Plantings report issued by USDA at the end of March. The March report describes farmers’ planting intentions. The June Acreage report reflects acreage estimates based on survey responses between May 28 and June 19, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service.
Since March, the question of acreage allocations lingered amid a background of a war-fueled diesel and fertilizer price rollercoaster, commodity price volatility and Arkansas’ persistent drought.
“We had an unusually warm and dry April this year,” said Scott Stiles, extension economics program associate for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture. “Corn, rice and soybeans went in early. It was the earliest planted soybean crop ever in Arkansas. Other than being too dry, weather had little influence on which crop to plant. This year, it was input costs that played a key role.”
RICE
“Total rice acres in the state came up short of the 1 million acres in the March intentions,” Stiles said. “The total dipped to 851,000 acres, the lowest acreage since the age of disco. We had 840,000 to 850,000 acres in '76 and '77.
Source : uada.edu