Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee are all huge agriculture states, and throughout the region, farmers are frustrated with the lack of rain over the last month.

One of those farmers is Arkansan Dannie Daughhetee, who has been in the fields since the 80s and said he has never seen a summer this bad.

“Since I started in 1987, this is the hardest and most expensive crop I have put in since 1987,” he said.

Daughhetee added that scalding temperatures have been a nightmare for his crops like soybeans. Others are struggling with pumpkins, and it affects their bottom line.

“You want to average 40 bushels an acre to pay bills with, and at this rate, I am looking at losing $100 an acre,” he said.

This doesn’t just affect farmers like Daughhetee.

Chris Cooper, director of the University of Tennessee Extension Office of Shelby County, said consumers will feel these problems on the shelves.

“When you have crop loss like that, those problems are going to be passed on to the consumers, so next time you go to the grocery store to buy some of these items, they are going to be more expensive,” Cooper said.

The worst part for farmers is that there is really nothing they can do besides wait for Mother Nature to offer some relief.

“How does it end? Well, Mother Nature and God have a lot to do with that, you know, all we can do is just keep irrigating and try to do everything we can,” Daughhetee said.

Source - https://www.actionnews5.com