In the News - October 2008
Dry weather spells relief for Arkansas farmers
LITTLE ROCK - After heavy spring rains and flooding delayed planting, then
hurricanes damaged crops late in the season, the weather has generally been good
as Arkansas farmers begin wrapping up a stressful year. They're working long
hours to get crops out of the field.
"We've had really good weather, and farmers have started picking cotton hard
and heavy," said Dr. Tom Barber, extension cotton specialist with the University
of Arkansas Division of Agriculture.
"We just got started on irrigated cotton, mainly around Marianna and other
parts of southeast Arkansas. Most picking is going on south of Interstate 40,
but pickers have been harvesting dryland fields in northeast Arkansas and are
starting to move into irrigated fields."
Cooler weather this week will hurt defoliation efforts in younger cotton,
Barber said. Defoliants - needed to remove leaves - don't work as well in cool
weather snaps.
"I don't have a good handle on yields yet. Producers in southeast Arkansas
may be suffering losses from rains and boll rot, but we don't really know yet.
Gins are just now getting fired up."
Barber said Arkansas cotton farmers will harvest about 610,000 acres.
Dr. Chuck Wilson, extension rice specialist, said rice harvest progress was
way behind normal for this time of year.
The delay was caused by late planting, resulting from spring rains and
flooding and more recent problems from Gulf hurricanes.
"So far, statewide yields have been a little disappointing, anywhere from 10
to 15 percent off from normal. Yields aren't bad, they're just not up to what
farmers are used to cutting. Few people are talking about yields, which means
they have nothing to brag about," Wilson believes.
He said an early report on milling yields looks favorable.
Farmers have just begun harvesting the 3.2 million-acre soybean crop planted
in the spring, according to Dr. Jeremy Ross, extension soybean specialist.
"Statewide, we're probably three weeks behind on harvest," he said. "We're
hearing that farmers are cutting good yields. Considering early problems, the
crop has turned out pretty well."
Will anyone win the Arkansas Soybean Association's Race for 100 (bushels per
acre) contest this year and collect $50,000?
"We got a late start planting the crop, and early planted beans usually have
the best yields," Ross said. "We'll have better yields than last year, but it
would surprise me if anyone hit 100 bushels."
The USDA has increased its yield estimate for Arkansas from 36 bushels an
acre to 38. Ross explained that late planted beans and double-cropped soybeans
(planted behind another crop) benefitted from cooler temperatures and more
precipitation in August and September.
Meanwhile, harvest of the 460,000-acre corn crop is nearly over, said Dr.
Jason Kelley, extension wheat and feed grains specialist. "Overall, yields are
down compared to last year," he said. "The hurricanes didn't help. It's just a
different year from 2007 when we set a record of 168 bushels. This year, we
could be down 10 bushels off that.
"We're still getting pretty good corn yields. In some instances, it has taken
a little longer to get crops out, thanks to the hurricanes and seeing some lower
test weights. We can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel."
To learn more about Arkansas' crops, visit www.uaex.edu
or visit your county extension office.
The Cooperative Extension Service is part of the U of A Division of
Agriculture.
October 10, 2008
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
Related Link
Request an Interview
|
