Rainy spring delays sowing of Arkansas crops

Water covers a field in Prairie County in this 2011 photo. March and April rainfall has delayed planting in Arkansas this year.
(Arkansas Farm Bureau)
Water covers a field in Prairie County in this 2011 photo. March and April rainfall has delayed planting in Arkansas this year. (Arkansas Farm Bureau)

Rainfall in March and April has delayed the planting of crops across Arkansas this year.

For the week ending this past Sunday, only 62% of anticipated corn acres had been planted in Arkansas, compared with last year, when corn in Arkansas was 83% planted.

Arkansas rice jumped from 14% planted for the week ending April 24 to 40% planted as of Sunday.

"A 26% jump in a week is very sizeable, but not at all unexpected with the favorable weather that continued through the weekend," University of Arkansas Rice Extension Agronomist Jarrod Hardke said Tuesday.

"We're definitely still behind and have a lot of work to do," Hardke said.

On Wednesday, Arkansas was 19% behind the five-year average for rice planted for this time of year.

The USDA's crop progress and condition report for Arkansas on May 2 shows plenty of moisture in the soil in northwest Arkansas, west of Saline County, and along Arkansas's eastern border.

"So one week of really good progress may be followed yet again by another one where it's a much smaller increase [in planting] going into this next week as the larger portions of the area are at least at this stage unlikely to make a lot of progress this week," Hardke said, adding this may not be the case if there was no severe weather Thursday. The forecast for next week calls for a spell of hot and dry days.

Arkansas has experienced cooler and wetter conditions late fall through winter and until planting time over the past three years, which affects the quality of the rice that emerges, Hardke said.

More field work to prepare land for planting was accomplished last fall in Arkansas, which may have contributed to some planting progress so far this year, he said.

"The biggest issue that has faced Arkansas corn growers over the last several weeks has been the delay in planting due to wet fields," said Jason Kelley, University of Arkansas Extension agronomist who oversees wheat and feed grains, to include corn.

"Typically corn would be planted from Mid-March until early May -- depending on areas of the state -- North to South. As planting is delayed, the overall yield potential at some point starts to go down because of the late planting."

Yields would generally start to decline from late April to early March depending where farmers plant in the state, Kelley said.

"Many of our crop farmers also plant other crops, so as corn planting is delayed beyond when maximum yield can be obtained most years, some may switch crops, to such as soybeans," Kelley said.

Arkansas agronomists anticipate farmers will plant more soybeans this year because the market is good right now, and the crop requires less fertilizer than corn or rice.

Crop insurance coverage is another issue for farmers. As crops like corn are planted later than intended this year, insurance coverage may be available to farmers at a reduced coverage level, Kelley said. If planting happens very late, insurance may not be available at all.

Growers may continue planting rice into June, though they usually stop planting by May, Hardke said.

Kelley said corn growers may have additional incentive to stick to corn this year because of good prices for the crop.

"With the high corn grain prices farmers are expecting at harvest, some may have presold some corn, so the need to plant corn may be greater for some who may have contracts to fill at harvest," Kelley said.

Russia and Ukraine have accounted for nearly 20% of global corn exports and about 30% of global wheat exports over the past five years, according the University of Arkansas's enterprise crop budget report for 2022, updated in March.

Corn acres in Arkansas were estimated at 750,000 acres in 2022, which is down approximately 100,000 acres from last year, according to the USDA's prospective plantings report in March. The anticipated acreage reduction is related to rising farming input costs, like fertilizer, Kelley said. Total variable costs for growing corn are up 69% over 2021 and 49% of that total reflects rising fertilizer costs.

"Fertilizer prices have gone up (three times) compared to a year ago," Kelley said.

"Corn is the heaviest user of fertilizer of the crops we grow, so large increases in fertilizer costs has a large impact on corn," he said.

The combination of increased farming input costs and planting delays from rainy weather will lead to corn acreage reductions in 2022, Kelley said.

"How much, still to be seen," he said. "Normally farmers would end planting corn the first week in May in Northern Arkansas. Given the weather delays in planting, some planting will take place later than typical."


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