BALD KNOB, AR – Arkansas farmers are bracing again for spring floods after heavy rain over the last few days. The National Weather Service says the White River is expected to crest at 2.5 feet above flood stage at Augusta. That has farmers keeping a watchful eye.
Give Michael Oxner a minute with his iPhone and he’ll show you devastation.
The Little Red River & White River converging, inundating his farmland near Bald Knob last spring.
“Epic, epic, we had a 100 year flood event,” Oxner says.
That’s why Oxner is keeping close eyes on water creeping onto his fields right now. His goal is to get corn planted on the fields in the Bald Knob Wildlife Refuge by March 20th.
“I think we’ll be fine unless it rains a lot on Wednesday and surprises us,” Oxner says. “Late flood event is always more dangerous than an early flood event because we miss our time window for planting those crops.”
And while Oxner sees water now where he wants to plant rice, he says by comparison, it is no where close to what he saw in 2011.
“We had a 12 inch rain event on top of already bulging rivers, on top of a historic snow melt,” Oxner says. “I feel like this year won’t reflect last year at all.”
He’s certainly not predicting a repeat of last year’s disaster but also cautious about what this spring could hold.
The NWS initially warned of what it calls a “major agricultural disaster” if flood levels reach 30 feet. It has since backed off that prediction, in large part, because most crops are not planted yet.
Give Michael Oxner a minute with his iPhone and he’ll show you devastation.
The Little Red River & White River converging, inundating his farmland near Bald Knob last spring.
“Epic, epic, we had a 100 year flood event,” Oxner says.
That’s why Oxner is keeping close eyes on water creeping onto his fields right now. His goal is to get corn planted on the fields in the Bald Knob Wildlife Refuge by March 20th.
“I think we’ll be fine unless it rains a lot on Wednesday and surprises us,” Oxner says. “Late flood event is always more dangerous than an early flood event because we miss our time window for planting those crops.”
And while Oxner sees water now where he wants to plant rice, he says by comparison, it is no where close to what he saw in 2011.
“We had a 12 inch rain event on top of already bulging rivers, on top of a historic snow melt,” Oxner says. “I feel like this year won’t reflect last year at all.”
He’s certainly not predicting a repeat of last year’s disaster but also cautious about what this spring could hold.
The NWS initially warned of what it calls a “major agricultural disaster” if flood levels reach 30 feet. It has since backed off that prediction, in large part, because most crops are not planted yet.
