LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) -- Too little, too late? When it comes to the recent rainfall, that's what many Arkansans are wondering.
Arkansas crops still battling against 81 percent drought in the state, that's according to the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture.
Irrigation pumps EW staying busy in the delta, working to keep soybean crops alive.
The corn harvest has begun in Prairie County, and according to the extension office has been "so far, so good." And the rice harvest will begin early next week.
"We just hope that we're going to start getting some rain," said Bob Schaefers of Schaefers' Farms and Corn Maze near Conway. "Ten waterings in these beans already and it's just halfway through."
Schaefers manages his farm of corn, soybeans, wheat and hay.
"The stands kept dwindling away, dwindling away in this heat," Schaefers said.
And this year, the irrigation pumps are working overtime.
"Irrigation makes a difference, but the bad thing about having to irrigate is the expense of fuel that you put into a crop," Schaefers said. "There's no telling what the fuel bills are going to be for farmers."
The fuel is for Center Pivot Irrigation. Visitors to the farm can see the green crops watered by machines, right next to the brown crops watered by mother nature.
Surveying all his crops, Schaefers, like every farmer in Arkansas is working his the way through this extreme summer drought.
"It's just one of those things that has to happen every once and a while. And you just try to put up with it and get through it. And don't look back, because next year won't be like this one," said Schaefers.
Schaefers says he expects food prices to "rise like crazy" next year due to those fuel costs, for increased irrigation.
As for the Corn Maze Schaefers' Farms operates in the fall. They still have not decided whether it will be open this year because of the poor growing season.