Arkansas farmers are coming down to the wire to plant their last crops and try to get any sort of yield after being plagued by flooding.
According to KATV, Arkansas has experienced several storms that have caused flooding and delayed farmers from planting their rice crops.
What's happening?
"Arkansas farmers have either lost crops to weather or missed critical planting windows because of it," KATV reported.
May 25 was the last day of the rice planting season, beginning a 15-day window for late planting.
The farmers' goal now is to minimize loss since no one is going to break even this season. The mess left by the flooding also still needs to be managed.
"Problems that we have to address are all the damage that we had from the flooding and fixing the returning the fields back to precision level, repairing roads, repairing ditches and tiles, and restoring drainage on the fields," Jeff Rutledge, a rice farmer in Jackson County, told KATV.
Additionally, the farmers' insurance decreases 1% every day during the window, since it's less of a guarantee for the crop.
Some farmers may choose to switch to soybeans because this crop can be planted after the window ends. However, that brings its own set of challenges as well. Transitioning to another crop can lead to disease and pest issues.
Why is the flood damage to rice crops concerning?
Rice crops being impacted by floods isn't just happening in Arkansas. It also happened in Bangladesh from August to October 2024. Extreme weather forced the country to import 500,000 tons of rice. Food prices have also risen by 20%.
Weather affecting rice crops isn't a recent issue. The JK Policy Institute published an article in 2023 highlighting that half the global population relies on rice as a primary food source, and extreme weather is threatening food security.
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