News

Arkansas farmer looking for a silver lining this fall

A northeast Arkansas farmer says he hopes his fields recover after dealing with the remnants of two hurricanes this year. Derek Haigwood tells Brownfield, “If we don’t get any more rain in the rest of the year, we’ll be able to get back to normal for next year.”

He says he’s taken steps to prepare his operation for a harvest season like this. “All of our harvest equipment sets on tracks,” he says.  “Our combines are on tracks, our buggy tractors, our buggies are on track. We’ve made that investment to be more efficient in the harvest in case it does rain.”

He says he’s looking for any possible silver lining. “Maybe the Mississippi River will get up,” he says. “It’s extremely low at Memphis right now, so we’re not having that wonderful basis that we usually have at the Mississippi River. So we’re putting grain in the bins, and we haven’t shipped out any.”

Haigwood says there are some crop quality concerns, specifically for soybeans, because of the recent rain events.