Francine’s approach has Arkansas farmers hurrying to harvest ahead of storm

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Ark. – Arkansas harvest season is in full swing but there is a growing concern among farmers ahead of tropical system Francine potentially dumping wind and rain on their fields.

As growers try to bring in their crops In a mad dash, rice farmers probably have the most to lose from the storm. Whenever the heavy winds and rains come they can act like a hand pushing crops down into the mud, reducing the quality and yield while increasing the time to harvest.

Jarrod Hardke, extension agronomist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, called the situation facing farmers a “perfect storm.”

“The incoming storm system really couldn’t arrive at a worse time,” Hardke said, adding that more than 40% of the Arkansas rice crop still needs harvesting.

Jake McNulty is one of those Arkansas farmers racing to collect rice as well as soybeans before the storm rolls into the Natural State.

“We’re hoping for good days to where we can just rock and roll and try to get this crop out the ground before Francine comes and really tries to slow us down,” McNulty said.

McNulty has cause to worry about the effects of those slowdowns. Wet or blown-over crops can take twice as long to collect and pose a greater risk of damaging equipment. Dried fields preparing for harvest also may grow mold or other bacteria, which would reduce the quality or quantity of all crops like corn to cotton, rice and soybeans.

“You start getting docked very heavily and can lose a lot of money really fast from that damage,” Hardke noted.

To avoid losing money, days are starting early and ending late on farms across the Delta. Mills are increasing their hours of operation too, but when they shut down for the day, so do the farms, meaning all they can do for these crops is hope.

“Selfishly we hope it moves to the east, but we know our neighbors back to the east probably want it to come back toward us,” McNulty admitted.

The impact will vary farm to farm. McNulty’s farm was expecting to finish harvest the first week of October, but other farms may have planted earlier or later. Time will determine Francine’s path and the impact it will have on consumers at the grocery store.

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