http://droughtreporter.unl.edu/

v 2.4.3.0

Many crops in Arkansas needed water at the same time. Corn is in the reproductive stage; rice fields need to be flooded; and cotton and soybeans need irrigation, but there is only so much water and so much area that can be irrigated at a time. The upper 75% of the Delta has not received measurable rain since May 25 to June 4. In a normal season, ten days might be needed to get the initial flooding going in a rice field. The dry conditions extend that time to 14 to 21 days this year to get the field flooded. Soybeans need water, but irrigating small plants can drown them as they cannot withstand flooding, but if a farmer did take the chance and irrigate, some ungerminated seeds would have a chance to grow. Irrigation pumps run on diesel, which is expensive at the present and even double what they were in 2021. Comparison to the 1980 drought: “I hear guys talking about 1980,” according to extension soybean agronomist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. 1980 had 15 straight, 100-degree-plus days at Little Rock — 10 of which were at or above 105 degrees — and 42 100-degree days for the year. Stuttgart Daily Leader (Ark.), July 15, 2022