The Assocaited Press

LITTLE ROCK—A year ago, spring came early to Arkansas and there was a long string of pleasant days with temperatures around 80 degrees.

Fruit trees budded, corn came up, winter wheat developed grain-growing heads and farmers all got an early start on planting.

Then on Easter weekend came the big freeze.

Temperatures fell into the teens or lower in parts of north and west Arkansas, and temperatures in the 20s froze the southeastern parts. The freeze destroyed the state’s fruit crop. Corn growers lost much of what they put in early, and winter wheat was badly damaged.

“Last year going in, we had that stretch of 80-degree weather. That really set us up for the Easter freeze,” said Jason Kelley, a corn and grain sorghum specialist for the Cooperative Extension Service. “This year is a total opposite.”

This year, many farmers couldn’t get into their fields if they wanted to.

Wet weather has filled irrigation ponds, but farmers are looking at mud where they need rows of dirt. Jeremy Ross, a soybean expert for the extension service, said growers may have reason for concern if the pattern of heavy rain every few days continues beyond next week.

Growers are expected to plant up to 3.2 million acres of soybeans this year. Ross said the number could be as low as 3 million, depending on commodity prices and seed availability.

“If the rain events continue like they have been, every three to four days, that’s going to cause some problems,” Ross said.

Rice expert Chuck Wilson of the extension service said growers would be preparing their fields this week if it were not so wet.