The month of April is known for rainfall, but 2025 has been a record-breaking year. Between April 2 and April 5 at least three months of rainfall dumped across the Delta, as reported by the National Weather Service in Little Rock, Ark. and Memphis, Tenn.
Some farmers reported 10 inches of rain in their gauges. Others reported 15 and up to 20 inches.
“I have two pivots right here, and you cannot see the exhaust pipes,” said Chad Fullerton on April 10, 2025. Fullerton farms in southeast Missouri and upper northeast Arkansas.
“It’s the worst-case scenario,” he said.
Farmers need rain, but not this much. Rivers surged beyond their banks. Flash floods closed roadways. And fields that were either planted or ready to be were inundated by water.
All that water must go somewhere. The drainage process is slow. In some locations, farmers fear whether planting will be an option this year.
“Even if it gets dry enough to plant, there still might be a wash out,” said Cliff Carter, farmer in Greene County, Ark.
Waters destroy cropland
On April 7, the 2025 planted acreage in Arkansas totaled 839,798 acres. Of that, flooding was reported on 31% of those acres, according to a fact sheet by Extension economists and agronomists at the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.
The preliminary estimated economic impact is $78,932,457 in crop-related damages, across 32 counties. Calculations in the fact sheet were based on crop enterprise budgets, historical insurance data, and field-level reports.
“We recognize that this is likely a conservative estimate as we have not accounted for yield loss resulting from late planting, damage to farm structures such as grain bins, and unreported acreage that is flooded,” said Hunter Biram, Extension economist in a press release from the Division.
Keep in mind, 2025 was already a year of tight margins. Many farmers across the Delta spoke to increasing corn acreage this year, because they anticipated it to be the crop to lose the least money. Now, many are looking at the cost of replants – if they can even plant at all.
According to Division row crop agronomists, replant decisions should be made on a case-by-case basis. Spot planting a field depends on the magnitude of the stand loss and the crop type.
Flood persists
In Greene County, Carter farms near the St. Francis River. Like many farmers, he initially relied on drone and aerial imagery to assess flood damage. On April 16, Carter said the Marmaduke area was beginning to dry out but there were still fields he could not access.
“The biggest concerns are the tributaries and drainage ditches,” Carter said, specifically referring to where Big Slough Ditch bottlenecks into the St. Francis River.
In the same region, Jarius Stroupe is project manager for the St. Francis River basin, U.S. Army Corp of Engineers (USACE). Stroupe said early April rain totals were equivalent to a 500- to 1,000-year storm.
“The way the flood hit, we had different parts of the system crest at different times. So, we have parts of the system where the water is going down. And then we have areas like the Marked Tree area that are just now starting to crest,” he explained on April 11.
“Water can only get into the system so fast. You have a lot of farmlands impacted. Everyone is impacted, residential and industry, you name it.”
All federal levees in Stroupe’s district stood the test of this rainfall event, he reported, but engineers continue to monitor and follow the flood patterns with modeling and ground-truth data.
Safety is the top concern, and Stroupe said thousands of sandbags and numerous pumps had been distributed to local communities to fight the rising waters. For some, in other districts, that was not enough.
Three rivers rage
In Jackson County, the battle of the floodwaters spanned from one side of the county to the other. White, Black, and Cache Rivers overtook farmland and communities, with devastating losses and damages. Many compare the 2025 flood to that of 2011.
Stan Haigwood and his family farm ground near the confluence of the White and Black Rivers at Newport. On April 8, the White River crested at 33.26 feet. Major flood stage is 30 feet.
Of course, on this high-risk ground, a flood is not uncommon. The highest ground is typically planted first. However, this time, it took weeks for Haigwood to get to ground that does not normally flood.
“Even if the dams would have been empty, it was still going to flood,” Haigwood said, referring to the Norfork and Bull Shoals Dams upstream of the White River.
These two dam sites are controlled by USACE and Southwest Power Association. Water released from these dams makes its way down the White River. Now a big concern is how these releases will elongate flooded conditions.
By April 25, the White River had fallen to 24 feet at Newport, with many fields submerged. Farm Press will continue monitoring this situation for further developments.
On the east side of Jackson County, farmers are feeling the same pain, but on the Cache River. The muddy waters rose from riverbanks causing five levee breaches near the Grubbs community. Everyone took action to save the town, and sandbags were delivered by an Arkansas National Guard Black Hawk helicopter.
On April 18, nature’s fury proved too powerful. The levee broke. The best solution to divert water away from the town was to make a cut across Highway 37. Despite these efforts, some homes were still devastated, and miles of farmland were overtaken by levees that had never busted.
Jimbo Fields is a farmer and landowner in the Grubbs area where his family homesteaded in the 1930s. The 2025 floodwaters overtook his and his father’s homes, then an electrical shortage set Fields’s home ablaze.
He emphasized the need to address drainage issues caused by a sediment jam in the river channel. "We are at the bottom of the funnel on the Cache River, and it will just not run out in time," he said.
Will the waters recede so farmers can plant this year? It depends. Chris Howard, crop insurance agent in Jackson County said, “The water is big, and it is going to be slow.”
When asked about his best advice for farmers in this situation, he said “to pray.”
For farmland that cannot be planted, Prevented Planting may be the only option. Howard said, “My farmers are covered with insurance, but they cannot make it with insurance like they do a crop.”
If the land dries out, farmers may still have time to plant or replant before crop insurance windows close. However, later planting dates will likely result in a yield loss on those acres, adding to the almost $79 million in losses in Arkansas.
Source - https://www.farmprogress.com
