Midsouth farmers are opening irrigation taps early this spring as a persistent drought has left fields short on soil moisture and slowed crop emergence. Growers in Arkansas report running center pivots and other systems to get corn, soybeans and rice established after a dry planting window. 1–3 inches expected of rain in the near term may help, but local forecasters say it won't erase accumulated deficits.
Weather forecasters say the region has skipped the typical stormy part of spring and conditions are behaving like a later season. "It's almost looking like Mother Nature is ahead by two months or so," said Chris Buonanno, science officer at the National Weather Service in Little Rock. Forecasters on April 23 signaled multiple systems could bring measurable rain through the following week, but totals are uneven by county.
Joe Goudsward, a senior forecaster at the Little Rock office, said statewide storm totals through the period are generally forecast at 1 to 2 inches with pockets of heavier amounts up to about 3 inches in parts of northwest and eastern Arkansas. Those totals can ease short-term stress but would not fully replenish deeper soil moisture needed to end drought conditions.
Local irrigation response
University of Arkansas Extension agents report several producers already running irrigation to support germination and early growth. Faulkner County Extension agent Kevin Lawson described a dairy producer using a pivot on corn destined for silage to get uneven stands to emerge, and another grower running a pivot to flush soybeans and activate preemergence herbicide. Producers are also flushing rice fields where seedlings need water to emerge.
Jarrod Hardke, the Division of Agriculture's rice agronomist, said some growers are shifting planned rice acres because surface irrigation water supplies are well below normal and confidence in delivering water across all acres is low. He added that current dry conditions combined with high winds cause any remaining seedbed moisture to decline rapidly, and many operations report Irrigation a month early compared with typical schedules.
Rice and water supply
Rice still requires substantial irrigation even as research reduces per-acre water needs in some systems, and Hardke said that need is driving decisions to plant fewer acres or to delay planting until water availability is clearer. Where rice is planted into dry ground, producers must flush with irrigation water to promote germination; without reliable surface water deliveries, some fields are at risk of poor stands or delayed establishment.
Climate signals are mixed for the coming months. The Climate Prediction Center currently classifies ENSO as neutral but gives about a 60% probability of El Niño developing in May, a shift that typically suppresses Atlantic tropical activity. While tropical systems can deliver heavy rainfall that relieves drought, El Niño tends to reduce that kind of Atlantic-driven assistance.
The CPC's seasonal outlooks show roughly equal chances for above- and below-normal rainfall for June–August, July–September and August–October, leaving producers to manage irrigation and planting decisions with limited assurance of a wetter season.
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