Row crop farmers survive flooding, tornadoes caused by Hurricane Beryl

Hurricane Beryl, which struck the Texas coast a week ago and then wreaked havoc on states inland, including Arkansas, caused billions of dollars in damage in its wake. But, row crops in Arkansas may have been spared any significant damage even though record rain amounts pummeled certain parts of the state and the storm also spawned several small tornadoes.

Batesville, Harrison, North Little Rock and Little Rock all received record amounts of rain as the storm enveloped the entire state. Other areas of the state had higher amounts of rainfall, including eight inches in Grant County, 5.36 inches in Heber Springs, 6.6 inches in Conway County and 7.31 inches in Ferndale.

Five tornadoes were confirmed as the system made its way northeast through the Natural State. At least 67 tornado warnings were issued by the NWS.

While many areas of the state suffered damage to structures, reports of row crop damage throughout the state appear minor.

Jackson County extension staff chair Mathew Davis said that while the White River rose significantly in his area as compared to previous levels, damage appeared to be limited to “blown levees and slow drainage on some fields.”

“Overall, no wind damage is to be noted,” Davis said. “We are seeing farmers just trying to manage water on field and get it off as the waterways will allow. A few fields in the Departee Creek watershed were underwater after the rain, but we expect the water to continue to drain into the later part of the week.”

Crop damage appeared to be minimal, Faulkner County extension agriculture agent Kevin Lawson said.

“The Arkansas River is still really low so everything flowed out pretty fast,” Lawson said. “There are a few beans in low-lying areas that had some water stand on them, but all in all I don’t think much damage occurred from this one.”

Arkansas wheat growers were also fortunate enough to complete most of their harvest before Beryl came ashore. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that by the end of the first week of July, about 99% of the state’s 135,000 acres of winter wheat had been harvested.

Jason Kelley, extension wheat and feed grains agronomist for the Division of Agriculture, said 2024 was a “fairly decent growing season” for winter wheat in Arkansas. The crop saw a dramatic drop in acreage from the previous year, when growers planted 230,000 acres of wheat.

“The biggest difference in growers’ experience was from north to south,” Kelley said. “Growers in the southern half of the state saw a lot of rainfall from March until May — the northern half saw a lot less of that, and wheat tends to prefer dryer conditions.”

As a result, he said, growers in the northeastern portion of the state have been seeing better yields per acre.

Overall, the wheat harvest for most growers ran seven to 10 days ahead of schedule, with significant gains in the final weeks of the growing season.

“We had some foliar disease pressure — septoria — which is fairly common in wheat, and is usually worse in wet weather,” Kelley said. “In general, disease pressure was higher than in past years.”

Moody’s reported earlier this week that the losses from Hurricane Beryl could top $6.3 billion. Most of those losses happened in Texas and specifically in the Houston area.