In a year when severe drought scorched the
Southwest, a hurricane drowned crops in the East and river flooding
swamped farms in the Midwest, the worst place to be a farmer may be
just west of the Mississippi River.

Arkansas and Louisiana have experienced both drought and
flooding. And in some cases, so have individual farmers in those
states.

Jerry Gill estimates he lost $100,000. Flooding submerged 150
acres where he usually plants corn and soybeans about 150 miles
northwest of Little Rock. Then the drought dried up the pastures
that his cattle graze, and he had to run a hose from his house so
the skinny animals would have enough to drink.

The cost of the bad weather could reach more than $1 billion in
the two states.