By Ryan McGeeney
Arkansas farmers are waiting for floodwater to recede so they can get to stranded cattle and assess damage to infrastructure and newly planted crops a week after storms dropped more than a foot of rain.
The storms that swept the state April 2-6 produced tornadoes and heavy rain across Arkansas and much of the Mid-South. The National Weather Service reported that 8.75 inches fell in Jonesboro, Arkansas. In Little Rock, more than 5 inches fell in a matter of hours, triggering a rare flash flood warning for the area.
In the days after the rains subsided, rivers swelled over their banks, and many producers throughout the state found their fields saturated, if not underwater outright. The flooding has also closed numerous state and U.S. highways across Arkansas.
The severe weather arrived relatively early in the planting season for most Arkansas row crops. Nearly one-third of the state’s planned corn acres, however, was already in the ground as of April 6, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, with 12 percent of plants emerged. Several extension agents, along with agronomists for the Division of Agriculture, acknowledged that some growers will likely need to replant those acres.
Stewart Runsick, Clay County extension staff chair for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, said nearly 100 percent of the county’s row crop acres were affected by flooding.
“Some places in the county received 15-19 inches of rainfall since Wednesday,” Runsick said. “The Big Slough Levee near Rector breached around 7 p.m. Saturday. Many county roads were washed out. Cache River ditch, Current River and Little Black River got out big, with major flooding around McDougal and Success.”
Traveling by boat
Jerrod Haynes, Woodruff County extension staff chair, said that the White River and the Cache River, both of which run through his county, as well as a number of large bayous, were “receiving runoff water from every direction.
“A lot of acres that have been planted are underwater, with some growers looking at potential replanting situation,” he said. “Rice fields that had levees in them before the rain will need to be repaired or rebuilt and re-seeded.”
Haynes said that many residents who live close to major rivers in the county required boats to get to and from their homes.
Effects on livestock
In the northcentral area of the state, Michael Paskewitz, Izard County staff chair, said residents in his county were seeing substantial damage to roads and bridges, exacerbated by flood water carrying debris from previous tornado and wind damage.
“Several cattle are dead due to a lightning strike,” he said. “Miles of fence are destroyed. Hayfields and pastures have been littered with trees and debris that must be removed before the grass overgrows them to prevent equipment damage during harvest. Sand and gravel deposits are also an issue along larger creeks and rivers in the county.”
Pasturelands in central and southwestern Arkansas weren’t spared, either. Rachel Bearden, Hot Spring County extension staff chair, said her area experienced historic flooding from the Ouachita River.
“Several livestock producers were unable to get to groups of cattle due to high water blocking roads,” she said.
Amy Simpson, Clark County staff chair, said nearly all farms in her county experienced flooding.
“Some still have rice under a foot of water and their fields are washed like a riverbank with debris and logs,” she said. “We still have some corn and soybeans under water as well.”
Jerri Dew, Lafayette County extension staff chair, said residents in her area experienced as much as 9 inches of rain, although many row crop fields seemed to drain quickly.
“Farmers are in a wait-and-see mode to assess damage,” she said. “All the cattle seem to be accounted for. There is one herd stranded on a 200-acre island, but they are OK. We are watching Lake Texoma and what the runoff will do up there.”
According to the March 31 Prospective Plantings Report from USDA, Arkansas growers planned to plant more than 7.1 million acres of principal crops in 2025. Extension agronomists with the Division of Agriculture began gathering data from extension agents across the state on April 7, seeking assessments of how much of that acreage will likely be affected by the recent storm damage, requiring replanting, tillage or other fieldwork.
Source : uada.edu