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In the News - March 2008
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| Batesville photos above by Stan Carter, U o f A Cooperative Extension Service. |
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| Independence County Flood photo above by Roger Gipson |
NEWPORT, Ark. - More rain in the forecast for Monday and Tuesday has farmers in Independence and Jackson counties are casting a worried eye to the sky more than a week after storms caused Arkansas’ rivers to overflow the banks and flood farm fields.
"We could be right back in this situation again," said Steve Wyatt, an Independence County farmer. "The ground is saturated."
Randy Chlapecka, Jackson County extension agent for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, said more flooding would be another blow for his county.
"Certainly we’re concerned about rain, especially in north-central Arkansas upstream from Newport and Jackson County," he said. "They were predicting heavy rain, especially Monday."
Several thousand acres of wheat in his county have been under water for more than a week and is probably lost, he said.
"Farmers were counting on this wheat crop to help their cash flow at a time of the year when they don’t have much income," he said. The pot was even sweeter this year because of the high prices being offered wheat growers.
Wyatt said he felt helpless this week as he flew with a friend over his flooded 3,000-acre farm along the White River.
"It was water as far as you could see, especially around Oil Trough in the river bottoms," he said. His wheat was nowhere to be seen.
Despite his wheat being under a few days, most of it will be OK when the land dries out. He said his shop and equipment at Oil Trough didn’t get flooded, but his neighbors weren’t so lucky.
Stan Carter, county extension staff chair with the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, said about 8,000 acres of wheat – nearly all the county’s wheat – was covered by the White and Black rivers.
"Most farmers are thinking about half of their wheat yields were lost," he said. "We had sand deposits over some areas 3 feet deep along the river."
Carter said farmers have their work cut out for them, repairing erosion gullies, fences and re-securing fuel tanks moved by the water.
Row crop farmers weren’t the only farmers affected by flood. Roger Gipson, a Pioneer Seed Co. agronomist and former county extension agent, said a farmer who raises row crops and cows, lost 16 momma cows and 28 calves in the flood.
"He was speculating that the current probably got the calves," Gipson said. "There’s probably plenty of things like that going on up and down the river."
Wyatt has his work cut out for him: he has had to re-fertilize his wheat, replace fences, pick up debris and rework the land.
"What didn’t wash down to the hardpan, got covered with sand near Newark," he said.
"A lot of our ground was in good shape after last fall. Now, we’re going to have to get in there and do some work, and it’s going to take more fuel to work it into shape. I don’t have to tell you how high fuel is. And fertilizer is extremely high. This was not a good year for this happen."
Wyatt figures the flood wasn’t as bad as the December 1982 flood.
In 1982, the river crested at about 29 feet at Batesville, compared to 27 feet this time, he said. At Newport, the river crested at 34 feet the same as 1982. A flood in April 2004 caused more economic hardship for farmers, he said, because wheat was further along in development, and farmers had planted corn and some rice.
"This is bad, but I’ve been through worse things than this. My heart goes out to the people who lost their homes in the flood, but from a farming standpoint I d rather see a flood than a drought."
The Cooperative Extension Service is part of the U of A Division of Agriculture.
March 28, 20088
Media Contact: Lamar James
Extension Communications Specialist
U of A Division of Agriculture
Cooperative Extension Service
(501) 671-2187 or (501) 753-0207
ljames@uaex.edu
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