Through drought, Arkansas farmers set yield records
By The Associated Press
This article was published November 11, 2012 at 12:30 p.m.
LITTLE ROCK — The summer drought cost Arkansas row crop farmers a lot of money — but they used early spring weather and irrigation to work through it and finish with record production for corn, rice and soybeans.
The University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture said planting early enabled the corn crop to escape much of the damage of a late-summer stretch of hot and exceptionally dry weather.
Soybeans came in a record 42 bushels per acre to break the previous record of 39 bushels in 2004. Growers planted 3.1 million acres in soybeans.
Corn growers harvested 177 bushels per acre, well above last year’s 142 bushels.
Rice growers harvested 7,340 pounds per acre, 8 percent above last year’s 6,770 pounds. The old record of 7,230 pounds per acre was set in 2007.
Comments on: Through drought, Arkansas farmers set yield records
To report abuse or misuse of this area please hit the "Suggest Removal" link in the comment to alert our online managers. Read our Terms of Use policy.
You must login to make comments.