Farmers still feeling the heat despite rain

8:03 PM, Aug 9, 2011   |    comments
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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) -- The Farmer's Market in the summertime -- fresh produce up for sale.

"It's at peak season...and going to look even better behind this rain," said Danny Carpenter.

As with many farmers, it hasn't been an easy year for Carpenter Produce.

"We've been doing this for 37 years," Carpenter said.

He and his family operate a 2000-acre farm in Grady, Arkansas. And like everywhere else, Carpenter has battled triple-digit temperatures for weeks.

"In my lifetime this has been the worst that I've ever seen. It's been tough," Carpenter said.

His family travels to the River Market in Little Rock for the Farmer's Market every Tuesday and Saturday.

"It's picking up a little bit. We still have a lot of home-grown produce coming in: tomatoes, cucumbers, pinto beans...everybody has been waiting on those pinto beans. It's that time of the year," Carpenter said.

But is the recent rainfall too little, too late?

"On some crops it's a little bit too late...but we have a fall garden. And we have a complete fall garden of everything we grow in the springtime. So it's still growing -- everything is still in the process," Carpenter replied.

He added that a small part of it, comes down to knowing when to plant -- an instinct for farmers.

"You just go with the season, and when you think it's that perfect time to plant, just go with it," Carpenter added.

Regardless of the amount of rainfall, Carpenter says it's a welcome sight.

"If we get some maybe every two weeks, we'd be good. But you know we can't always have it our way -- but I thank God for what we got," Carpenter said.