Tropical Storm Francine slows harvest, impacts quality for Arkansas crops

By Sarah Cato
U of A System Division of Agriculture

LITTLE ROCK — “It’s going to be a long fall.”

That’s how Cross County Extension Staff Chair Jenna Martin described the agricultural aftermath of Tropical Storm Francine. The storm hit Arkansas last Wednesday, dropping up to 9 inches of rain and crop-damaging gusts of up to 35 miles per hour.

The wind and rain mean that Arkansas row crop growers are facing a longer harvest and lowered quality for rice, cotton, soybeans and corn.

SPROUTED — Many soybean growers in eastern Arkansas are faced with beans sprouted in pods after extensive rainfall from Tropical Storm Francine. (Photo by Christopher Cato.)

“While we’re fairly fortunate compared to some who got a lot more wind, we have some rice and corn leaning and other fields look like you took a flat roller to them,” Martin said. “Impact on yields and quality are major concerns.”

"We received 6 to 7 inches over four days,” said Matthew Davis, Jackson County extension staff chair. “Our largest concerns are the sprouting of crops in the field, loss of quality, and poor field conditions.”

Rice

“There was not as much rice damage as I had feared when I made my way across counties in the northeast yesterday,” said Jarrod Hardke, extension rice agronomist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. “There are fields with heavily lodged areas, but the majority of rice is still standing.”

Lodged, or flattened rice takes longer to harvest. This, paired with the yield loss associated with sprouted rice, means rice growers are facing their already thin profit margins shrinking even more.

Hardke said parts of Poinsett, Cross and St. Francis counties seem to have taken the hardest hit.

“In some particular hotspots there is more significant lodging and rice sprouting on heads in the lodged rice,” Hardke said. “To a limited degree there is even some rice sprouting on standing rice.”

Doubling harvest time

“There’s a lot of economic impact to having downed rice,” said Nick Newberry, program associate for the Northeast Rice Research and Extension Center in Harrisburg. “Your harvest time in some situations doubles. The combine’s still rolling and you’re still burning diesel, but the acres you cut in that time is cut in half. If you even had a positive margin to start with, it’s now a break-even or a negative.”

Newberry said they were fortunate to get almost all rice at NERREC cut before the storm.

“Most of what we’ve got left is pretty much flat. It’s not very pretty,” Newberry said. “If this had just come two weeks later it would’ve been better, but that’s the risk you run in this industry.”

Cotton

“The hardest hit areas seem to be around Jackson and Poinsett counties,” said Zachary Treadway, extension cotton and peanut agronomist for the Division of Agriculture. “In these areas it was pretty common to see plants on the ends of rows laying over or at least leaning.”

Treadway said leaning plants should straighten up with time, but for plants completely blown over, those bolls can be expected to rot. As for open cotton bolls, Treadway said most of it is still pickable.

“Of the cotton that is open, I saw a fair amount of fiber drooping out of the bolls, but not a lot on the ground, surprisingly,” he said. “We can still pick that cotton as long as it is hanging on to the bolls.”

However, harvest may be further away than initially anticipated due to field conditions after the rain.

“I expect harvest to be a little delayed now,” Treadway said. “For producers who are ready to pick, they’ll have to wait for the ground to get dry enough to get pickers out in the field. For producers who are defoliating, they’ll either have to wait for the ground to dry enough to get a ground rig across it or hire a pilot to apply defoliants. I think this is going to push everything back.”

However, Treadway said the forecast sunshine will “do us a world of good if it shows up.”

Soybeans

Jeremy Ross, extension soybean agronomist for the Division of Agriculture, said the majority of the damage came in the form of sprouted soybeans.

“I was on the phone with county agents, farmers and crop consultants from the southeast to the northeast corners of the state about soybean seed sprouting in pods,” said Ross said. “Most of these calls are in fields that were ready to harvest prior to Francine, but I had a few calls about pods that are still green having sprouted seeds.”

Fortunately, Ross said this is isolated to just a small portion of pods on the soybean plants.

“Some fields with taller plants that haven’t reached maturity have lodged to some degree,” Ross said. “These fields could have some quality issues due to matted foliage and lack of air movement.”

Ross said the main focus now is to get these fields harvested, but harvesting in wet conditions brings issues of its own.

“We need to get these fields harvested as quickly as possible to avoid additional sprouting and dockage due to moldy seeds. To do this, some fields will need to be harvested before they are dry enough to avoid rutting the fields,” Ross said. “Fields that will be rutted will cost more once they dry out to get back into shape for planting next spring. Some will stay rutted until next spring, delaying planting.”

Corn and grain sorghum

Jason Kelley, extension feed grains agronomist for the Division of Agriculture, said that although corn fields fared better than expected, there was substantial lodging in some areas and grain quality is a concern.

“We’re at the tail end of harvest so the corn that was left had been mature for three to four weeks, with the stalks getting more brittle every day. Every field had some plants blown over,” he said. “Some sprouting of grain in the shuck has occurred and those plants that are laying on the ground will likely see substantial sprouting and loss.”

Kelley said fortunately 84 percent of the state’s corn acres were harvested prior to Francine according to Monday’s crop progress report.  

Although the majority of the state’s few grain sorghum acres had already been harvested, Kelley said there was substantial sprouting of the grain in heads.

“I think the full extent of the damage is still to be seen, especially in terms of grain quality. The level of discounts our growers will receive for reduced-quality grain is the big unknown right now,” Kelley said. “The forecast now looks warm and dry, so harvest will likely start up again in a few days.”

Kelley said wet field conditions and rutting of fields will cause an added expense for this crop.

Forage

There is a bright side to things, as Francine brought much needed rain for livestock and forage producers.

“Much of the state was at least abnormally dry. The rain this past weekend helped to green up fields and provide additional grazing days,” said Kenny Simon, forages instructor for the Division of Agriculture. “Some producers had already started feeding hay, which is about 45 to 60 days ahead of the normal hay feeding period.”

Simon said the rain is especially beneficial for producers that are stockpiling forages or have planted an annual forage.

To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu. Follow on Twitter at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @AgInArk. To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu.

Extension faculty to share expertise at Northwest Arkansas Homesteading and Gardening Expo April 18-20

By Rebekah Hall
U of A System Division of Agriculture

SHARING KNOWLEDGE — Extension faculty and agents will lead classes and presentations at the Northwest Arkansas Homesteading and Gardening Expo, held April 18-20 at the Benton County Fairgrounds in Bentonville. Organized by longtime Northwest Arkansas residents Barry and Mechel Wall, the pair said they wanted to share knowledge about sustainable living with attendees of all experience and skill levels. (NWA Homesteading and Gardening Expo graphic.) 

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Many young adults and families are interested in living a sustainable lifestyle — such as growing their own food or raising animals — but don’t know where to start. Barry and Mechel Wall, longtime residents of Northwest Arkansas, said they saw this knowledge gap and decided to organize the Northwest Arkansas Homesteading and Gardening Expo, which will take place April 18-20 at the Benton County Fairgrounds in Bentonville.

Mechel Wall said she and her husband wanted the expo to include classes for the homesteading-curious at different levels of experience and access to land. 

“Many people in the young professional age group live in apartments, so some classes are designed specifically for them, such as growing microgreens, window and patio gardens and becoming a farmer’s market chef — that’s what apartment dwellers need,” Wall said. “For those who have some space in their yard, there are classes on planning a garden, succession planning and canning, drying and freezing to preserve the harvest.”

Wall said she knew it was critical for the agenda to feature University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture faculty and agents, both from the Cooperative Extension Service and the Agricultural Experiment Station.

“There is a well-respected level of expertise coming from extension agents, and we are very appreciative,” Wall said. “We can all Google questions, but having someone explain things in a way we understand, that is specific to our region, is essential. The information presented by extension agents lends credibility to the processes and techniques. They are also able to connect learners with additional resources that they provide throughout the year.”

Extension faculty and agents will lead classes and presentations on Canning 101, the 4-H youth development program, organic food production, electric fencing and other methods of fencing and long and short-term food storage. The agenda also includes classes and workshops on seed starting, building raised beds, crop rotation, composting and more.

Extension expertise

Trudy McManus, Benton County extension family and consumer sciences agent for the Division of Agriculture, will lead a class on Canning 101. McManus said her presentation will include an overview of different forms of food preservation, such water bath canning and pressure canning, as well as discussion of proper canning procedures and canning supplies.

“We will be looking closely at the research-based science and food safety that every food preserver needs to know and practice,” McManus said.

McManus said that over the past 10-15 years, interest in home food preservation has increased, but a particular resurgence took place after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The empty grocery stores during COVID stressed the need for home food preservation for many people,” McManus said. “Although this push has slowed somewhat in the last year, there is still a lot of interest. There are also a lot of people moving to Northwest Arkansas with a goal to homestead, many of whom have not grown up with that lifestyle.”

Kenny Simon, extension forages instructor for the Division of Agriculture, said his presentation will focus on the fundamentals of controlled grazing utilizing electric fencing. He will discuss the importance of controlled grazing, its benefits and the advantages of electric fence over traditional fencing.

Simon said that with modern internet access, it’s easy for people to find answers to their homesteading questions, but the validity of those answers is cause for concern.  

“Just because a person reads something online, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s true,” Simon said. “Producers and homeowners depend on extension to provide them with non-biased, research-based information. We’re active in the community; the general public gets to know us on a personal level. They know they can count on us to give them an honest answer.

“Extension employees practice what we preach,” Simon said. “We have the formal training to provide expert advice, along with the experience to know how to apply it.”

Joe Hannan, Agricultural Experiment Station horticulture instructor for the Division of Agriculture, will lead a class on organic food production at the expo. He said the discussion will include a brief history of organic production, “why someone may want to get certified,” the basic certification process and highlight the difference between organic certification and Certified Naturally Grown.

“We will wrap up the session by looking at profitability of organic agriculture versus conventional production,” he said.

Hannan said he has seen a lot of interest among students and potential students in homesteading. “This is an ongoing trend I have seen, not just in Northwest Arkansas but around the country for the past several years.”

In addition to dubious internet search results, Hannan noted that the influence of social media content about homesteading may not contain accurate information that’s relevant to Northwest Arkansas’s specific climate.

“Northwest Arkansas is very different than other regions,” Hannan said. “People can go online and watch videos or TikToks, visit Instagram or other social media, but that content may not always be relevant and correct for this region. If someone wants to start a small business, especially one so dependent on local environmental conditions, they really need to have access to local support and locally derived information.”

By presenting at the expo, Hannan said he’s doing what extension does best: helping meet Arkansans — and their needs — where they are.

“It’s important for extension faculty and agents to go to the people,” he said. “Sometimes, that’s supporting them at events we host, sometimes that’s through digital media, and sometimes that’s by participating in partnered or third-party events. People consume information through a variety of channels, and we have to meet them there.”

Darryl Holliday, executive director of the Arkansas Food Innovation Center at Market Center of the Ozarks for the Division of Agriculture, will share information on food safety and proper protocol for curing, salting and drying fish and other meats. He said all recommended recipes and procedures have been tested for safety, as well as user ease, to “ensure adherence resulting in safe products to make and consume at home.”

Sharing extension resources at events that aren’t organized by the Division of Agriculture helps spread the word about all that extension offers, Holliday said.

“Most extension individuals are subject matter experts, but many Arkansans do not know how to access them,” Holliday said. “Therefore, participating in events such as this, which are not sponsored by the Division of Agriculture, allows us to provide this key information to people we might not reach.”

Teaching today, sustaining tomorrow

Wall and her husband have lived in Northwest Arkansas for 30 years. She said they were inspired to organize the expo because they noticed more young people desired the kind of skills that they taught their eight children growing up.

“No one needs to be hungry in a region of the world where they can forage, grow succession crops of food, barter for items and have protein produced in their back yard,” she said. “We are in a position to help people from any walk of life to start now and set something aside for a time of need. We never know when that day will come, or whether it will be loss of employment, a supply chain disruption, tornado or ice storm.

“Our goal is to teach the skills of setting aside something for that rainy day, because it will come at some point into each of our lives,” Wall said. “To be prepared is to not be afraid when those times come.”

To learn more about or register for the Northwest Arkansas Homesteading and Gardening Expo, visit novaterranwa.com. To contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent, visit uaex.uada.edu/counties/.

To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on X and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu. Follow on X at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on X at @AgInArk. 

After a disappointing first cutting, Arkansas pasture managers cross fingers for the second

By Ryan McGeeney
U of A System Division of Agriculture 

LITTLE ROCK — Pasture managers across Arkansas are reporting extraordinarily low yields from first cuttings.

Kenny Simon, instructor and extension forage specialist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, said growers are seeing yields from first cuttings of ryegrass and other forage grasses reduced anywhere from 25 to 75 percent of expectations.

PASTURELANDS — Pasture managers across Arkansas are reporting extraordinarily low yields from first cuttings, seeing yields from first cuttings of ryegrass and other forage grasses reduced anywhere from 25 to 75 percent of expectations. (Division of Agriculture photo.)

According to the July 10 Crop Progress report from the National Agricultural Statistics Service, 81 percent of non-alfalfa hay was in good or fair condition, with 11 percent rated poor or very poor. The same report showed 24 percent at a second cutting of hay, compared to 50 percent last year. Ninety-eight percent had completed a first cutting of hay, just short of last year’s 100 percent.

Simon said that with record-high fertilizer prices last year — doubling and nearly tripling in some cases — many growers chose to put out less fertilizer in fields than they typically would.

“Or perhaps none at all,” he said.

“But this low fertility issue is not something that’s come about overnight,” Simon added. “It’s an accumulation of several years.”

Simon said that despite outreach efforts by the Cooperative Extension Service and other farming resources, there persists a widespread misunderstanding of soils’ true nutritional needs.

“It’s typical that a producer will fertilize a field with a complete fertilizer early in the season, then only come back with nitrogen as needed,” he said. “We’ve been doing our best to educate growers about the importance of soil fertility and the correct fertilizer applications.

“Of course, sometimes it’s simply the case that the producers understand what they need to be doing, but it’s just not economically feasible,” he said.

Other issues have conspired to affect the year’s hay crop as well. Les Walz, extension agriculture and natural resources educator, said the first cutting in the state fell victim to the “perfect storm.”

“Last year, we had the drought across a large portion of the state,” Walz said. “Nobody wanted to fertilize during a drought, especially given the high prices, so we had low-fertility fields going into the winter.

“Then we had that freeze the week of Christmas, where we had single-digit temperatures, and we got a lot of winterkill on some of our warm season perennial grasses, like Bermuda and bahia, as well as turfgrass and some ornamentals” he said.

This year’s notably wet spring was then capped off by an unusually cool May, with overnight temperatures consistently in the 50s in the northern part of the state. The southern portion of the state saw those cool temperatures during the first week of May, which Walz said delayed their growth.

“With 50-degree nights, the warm season grasses really didn’t take off,” Walz said. “All those things fell in line to add up to a really bad first cutting.”

Most cattle and hay producers in Arkansas tend to let cattle graze those pastures for much of the first half of the year, Simon said, executing a first cutting in the early summer and a second cutting three to five weeks later, depending on the grass variety. Producers who maintain dedicated hay fields may take as many as four or even five cuttings in a season.

For the majority of Arkansas producers, however, much is riding on this year’s second cutting. Simon said that the ongoing rainfall throughout much of the state will likely benefit most growers, provided they can harvest their grasses at the right moment.

“The nutrient value is largely tied to the maturity stage of the plant,” Simon said. “It’s the No. 1 thing that influences forage quality. In areas where we’re getting rain, grass is maturing quickly.”

In 2022, many cattle producers in Arkansas and elsewhere were forced to deeply cull their herds, selling off more than they preferred, as the year’s widespread drought made forage scarce. Simon said that despite a disappointing first cutting, cattle producers may yet be able to harvest and stockpile enough forage to avoid a second year of drastic culling.

Greener in 2023

“We’re a lot greener now than we were this time last year,” Simon said. “We might have a really good second cutting, or even a third.”

Going forward, Simon said that soil testing — and adhering to appropriate fertilizer recommendations in response — will be key for pasture managers hoping for a more reliable first cutting in 2024 and beyond. Additionally, managing the canopy height of grasses will also be essential to success, he said.

“When doing a hay cutting, we need to raise our mower to a 2 to 3-inch height,” he said. “A common thread I’ve seen in damaged fields is that they were scalped to the ground, cut at 1-1.5 inches, and cut late in the season.

“With the forage top growth, the root system is a mirror image of the canopy,” he said. “If you have 1-2 inches of top growth, your roots are going to be really shallow in the soil.”

To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu/. Follow on Twitter at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @AgInArk.