SEBASTIAN COUNTY (KFSM)- All the recent flooding has left farmer Jamie Patterson with hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses this harvest.
The water has destroyed nearly all of the farmer’s corn and wheat.
“This was a wheat field, around 220 acres here, and the flood just got over it, and if you don't really know what you're looking at, you think okay it might be salvageable, but it's really all ruined, just destroyed the quality of it,” Patterson said.
During the worst of the flooding, Patterson says the water was nearly 5 ft. high, and his plants were submerged.
“At every new crest we'd come out in the boat and look at it, and it was so depressing,” he said.
Patterson said he may be able to save some of the 420 acres of corn he planted when he harvests later this week.
“It didn't pay for itself,” he said. “It's really more of a nuisance than anything. The harvest will be just get it gone so we can try again.”
When his fields dry up, Patterson said he will plant soybeans in hopes of growing a crop. Even though he's lost money this year, he said things could be worse.
“Last year was phenomenal,” Patterson said. “The last two years were really good, and thankfully so. We were kind of set up to handle this year.”
Patterson said he expects to only be able to salvage about 40 acres of his crops.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson said he has the asked the nation's agriculture secretary to approve emergency loans for farmers affected by the flooding, and said he's also hoping to get a federal disaster declaration.