News

Weathering the storms

The director of agriculture in Arkansas says farmers are doing their best to weather spring storms.

Wes Ward tells Brownfield strong winds and tornadoes damaged grain bins, fences and poultry barns across portions of the state last week.

“There was farm equipment out in fields and the tornado that came through Lake City, it was pretty devastating. We’re still working through the impacts.”

He says the recent excessive rains and flooding are a concern for farmers who have already planted crops, because it’s happening at a time when farmers can’t afford to replant.

“People were doing what they could to help with drainage to get the water off fields as fast as they could,” he says. “When you get excessive rainfall and comments of generational flooding, those creeks and streams fill up and there’s no place for it to go, but on land.”

National Weather Service flood warnings went into effect over the weekend for several rivers and streams across Arkansas.