MARION, AR (abc24.com) - Arkansas farmers worked around the clock on Thursday, trying to beat Isaac. For the last two days, farmers in Crittenden County have been working as quickly as they can to harvest whatever crops they have before rains and winds arrive.
It's hardly the calm before the storm in Crittenden County, consider this the harvest rush before the storm. Crittenden County Extension Agent, Jason Osborn says, late in the day and with rain starting to fall, farmers "are probably finishing up, but yes they're still going."
Farmers were burning daylight and diesel, racing to get as much of their mature crops out of the field as possible ahead of Isaac's arrival. Osborn says, "Right now producers are going as hard and fast as they can trying to get the crops that are harvestable out of the field that way they don't lose their yield or their livelihood."
The big concern is strong winds that could flatten crops ready to harvest. If farmers lose even 10 percent of their crop that could mean a loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars in an already difficult season.
Osborn says, "I've never seen them working, trying to cut soybeans with the weather as it is, where it's actually really beginning to rain this hard. (The storm) is not a quarter mile from us, it will be here in just a minute."
Which means trying to get a farmer for an interview is next to impossible, Osborn says, "It will be very difficult, very difficult, as you can see behind us, they really don't have the time to talk."
It won't be until Saturday after the severe weather passes that farmers will be able to see if their race against Isaac paid off.
