LITTLE ROCK — Record-setting rainfall in Arkansas last month may cost row crop farmers $40 million to $50 million. That's according to a preliminary report issued by the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.
Officials say the rain from Aug. 13 to Aug. 20 dropped up to 1 foot of water, submerging more than 30,000 soybean acres in northeastern Arkansas. The loss for that acreage is estimated at $10.75 million, with Lawrence and Randolph counties the hardest hit.
Total losses for rice were estimated at up to $18.6 million, while damage to sorghum was estimated at $5.6 million.
Officials say the loss to cotton crops could be as high as $18.5 million but say there's still a lot of uncertainty regarding those numbers.
Read Saturday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.