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Weather stalling progress for Arkansas rice farmer

Northeast Arkansas farmer Derek Haigwood says they’re ready to start flooding their rice crop, but weather has been a challenge.  “We’re on about a 14-day straight weather lock where the wind is out of the northeast or northwest,” he says. “That’s fine, but we need some out of the South for spraying.”

He tells Brownfield he’s currently playing the waiting game to resume fieldwork. “But you spray this field when it’s on the north and then this field when it’s out of the South, and we’re on a two-week time frame here,” he says. “So, I’m sitting waiting to spray it, fertilize it and take it to flood.”

Haigwood says it isn’t an easy crop to raise and it requires a lot of attention.  “You have to be there every day for 100 straight days,” he says. “You have to nurture it and tend to it and spoon feed it a little fertilizer when it goes to boot.  It’s our bread and butter around here, but it’s the love-hate relationship.”

In addition to rice, Haigwood raises corn, soybeans, cotton, and wheat.