Abnormally dry conditions throughout the Arkansas Delta during the last month have sped the rice and corn harvest, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service has issued its latest Crop Progress report, and it showed that 7% of the state’s rice has been harvested, ahead of last year’s 4% and the 3% five-year average. This is the first report of Arkansas rice being harvested this year.
“We’re about to pick up a lot of speed by the end of this week, then it’s all just dependent on the weather,” Jarrod Hardke, extension rice agronomist for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture…