Rice harvest gets an early start on Oct. 2, 2025, in the Arkansas River Valley. (Photo by Kevin Lawson/University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture)
Fast facts:
- Analysis shows losses on four principal Arkansas crops
- Farmers face higher labor, fertilizer, interest costs
- Analysis available as MP588, “State of the Arkansas Crop Economy in 2025”
Arkansas farmers will lose hundreds of dollars per acre this year for their corn, cotton, long grain rice and soybean crops, according to an analysis by extension economists with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.
The analysis, “The State of the Arkansas Crop Economy in 2025,”conducted by Hunter Biram, Ryan Loy and Scott Stiles, examined net returns on the state’s principal crops. They factored in expected yield, expected price, expected revenues, operating costs and rent.
They found that Arkansas farmers can expect losses of:
- $273.71 per acre for corn
- $352.75 per acre for cotton
- $258.84 per acre for long grain rice
- $85.02 per acre for soybeans.
“The agricultural economy right now is probably in one of the most depressing states that I’ve seen in my career,” Deacue Fields, vice president-agriculture, for the University of Arkansas System, said to the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees. In addition to leading the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, Fields is an agricultural economist…