News

Cold weather ravages crops around SeArk

By Rick Joslin/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Wednesday, April 25, 2007 10:06 AM CDT

April’s big freeze is taking an increasingly bigger chunk out of Southeast Arkansas’ agricultural production.

Jefferson and Lincoln were among four counties added Tuesday by Gov. Mike Beebe to his disaster proclamation that now includes 52 of the state’s 75 counties.

Beebe’s office indicated more counties may be added to the list as additional damage assessments are submitted. The declaration supports efforts by farmers in applying for federal assistance because of crop losses during the record-setting early April cold snap.

In Jefferson County, 30 percent or more of the wheat crop has been lost and corn and rice yields will be lessened. Soybeans may have been damaged, too, according to Jefferson County Agent Eric Howard of the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service.

“It’s too early to estimate a dollar amount on losses,” said Howard, who added that most crop damage in Jefferson County occurred north of the Arkansas River.

Other Southeast Arkansas counties named in the proclamation are Arkansas, Bradley and Cleveland.

Initially, Bradley County Agent John Gavin of the Extension Service feared 50 percent of the tomato crop there had been destroyed while the remainder was damaged.

But the impact may not have been so harsh.

Gavin said that about 80 percent of the tomatoes struck by the freezing temperatures “may be coming back.” However, losses will be suffered by producers as the first crop may be a lower grade than normal and the tomatoes that are rebounding for a later yield won’t be ready until late in the season, when lower market prices typically prevail.

“There are a lot of factors to be considered in determining monetary losses,” said Gavin. “We just don’t know yet what the financial loss will be.”

State Agriculture Director Richard Bell said Tuesday that freezing temperatures earlier this month damaged crops across the state.

“It is more severe than I anticipated,” Bell said. “It’s much wider spread and much farther south than I thought.”

Corn and wheat were particularly affected by the cold temperatures, the agriculture secretary said.

“Both were caught in very unusual timing,” he said. “We had warm weather in March and everything took off, then we had the freeze.”

Bell said he attended a meeting in Clarksville last week where farmers complained about losing their peaches, berries and grape crops in the freezing temperatures.

Many farmers around the state also have reported losing entire fields of corn and wheat, he said.

To show how bad the wheat crop was hit, Bell said that before the freeze, 70 percent of the state’s wheat crop was “rated as good to excellent.”

The rating is now 14 percent at “good to excellent,” 22 percent very poor, 42 percent poor and 22 percent fair, he said.

The Arkansas News Bureau contributed to this report.

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