EUDORA, Ark.—Through August, Arkansas’ crop production estimates were largely unchanged from the previous month. With remnants of two hurricanes hitting the state in September, the figures could change for the worse.

Soybean production was up 5.6 percent and cotton production was down 6.2 percent, according to figures take Sept. 1 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. The next estimates due Oct. 10 will incorporate damage from hurricanes Gustav and Ike.

August was abnormally wet, and September has brought two tropical storms. Wet conditions interfered with crop harvests, which are well behind schedule.

“We’ve got an inordinately large amount of rice still in the field that is susceptible to these hurricanes,” said Chuck Wilson, the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service rice agronomist.

Rice is particularly hard-hit.

“It’s going to be devastating,” said Tommy Poole, who farms near Eudora in Chicot County. “It cost us so much this year, we worked so hard and it was the prettiest crop we’ve ever had.” Corn producer Michael Richardson of Holly Grove is harvesting as fast as he can to get his crop in before Ike hits. Richardson is cutting his corn early and then incurring the extra expense of drying it.

“I have picked a corn crop up before, and it is absolutely no fun at all,” he told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette newspaper of Little Rock.

As of Monday, an estimated 92 percent of Arkansas’ corn was mature, but only 25 percent of it had been harvested, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Likewise, 79 percent of the grain sorghum was considered mature, but only 10 percent had been harvested.

Most of Arkansas’ soybeans are still growing, so recent rains have tended to be beneficial, said Jeremy Ross, the Extension Service soybean agronomist.

Soybean harvesting should get under way by the end of this month, he said.

“Once the beans are ready to harvest, there’s really nothing good that can happen to them until you get them put in the combine and delivered,” Ross said.