Land Clearing in Corning, AR

How Does Gumbo Clay Change Land Clearing in Corning?

Corning sits in western Clay County, about 2 miles west of the Black River. The land here was once heavily forested and cut by many rivers and streams. Swamps covered large parts of the area and made farming and travel hard. In the county's early years, people east of the Black and Cache rivers had trouble reaching Corning in flood season.

Low ground here still waits on dry weather. Wet gumbo turns thick and heavy, so we schedule the wet spots for a dry stretch. The drum mulcher then grinds brush, saplings and small trees into mulch where they stand.

On flat clay, a cleared lot needs shaping before a house, shop or barn goes up. Lot clearing takes out the brush and small trees and rough grades the site with the skid steer. Rough grading gives rain a way off the building spot. The builder's excavator digs the foundation from there.

Anyone who will disturb the ground has to contact Arkansas 811 before dirt work starts. The call is free, and utility companies have two working days to locate their lines. In a mapped flood zone, federal flood insurance rules count filling and grading as development. Ask the city or the county before any fill goes in, and we will point you to the right office.

Fence Rows and Ditch Banks on Corning Farm Ground

Around Corning, rice farming arrived about 1916, drawn by the flat land and plenty of water. By the mid-1900s, clearing and leveling land had become key to growing more rice in Clay County. Soybeans had taken over from cotton, the first big cash crop, by the mid-1950s. Today rice is the county's dominant crop, with cotton, soybeans, corn, hay and milo grown too.

Around Corning's rice fields, fence rows and ditch banks fill in with brush and saplings when no one cuts them. Pasture and fence line clearing grinds that growth down with the drum mulcher so a fence can be rebuilt. Where it is mostly tall grass, weeds and briars, bush hogging with the brush cutter takes it down.

Commercial crawfish, baitfish and catfish farms are common in western Clay County. On farm ground like that, we clear the brush along field edges and fence rows. In town, brush clearing takes thickets and vines out from around a house or an outbuilding.

Sandponds, Hunting Land and Black River Bottoms Near Corning

Much of western Clay County lies on old river terraces, with windblown silt, sand sheets and sand dunes. Many low spots between the old dunes, called sandponds, hold water. The higher ground on those terraces is rarely if ever flooded. Post oak and loblolly pine are native there.

East of town, the Black River strip holds some of the largest native bottomland hardwood tracts left in the Delta. The Dave Donaldson Black River Wildlife Management Area, south of Corning, offers hunting and fishing. Clay County's only lakes are around Corning. With the rivers and cutover rice and soybean fields, they draw waterfowl each winter, and many duck hunters with them.

On terrace ground, one tract can hold both high spots and sandponds. We mulch brush on the higher ground first and leave the wet spots for a dry stretch. After a storm, storm cleanup means downed trees and limbs cut up, grappled and hauled off on the dump trailer.

From Monette to Corning on AR 135

We come over from Monette on AR 18 west to Lake City. There, AR 135 angles north to Paragould and runs on to Lafe, then northwest to Hooker. It ends at US 62 just east of Corning. US 62 runs through town, east 25 miles to Piggott and southwest 26 miles to Pocahontas.

US 67 joins US 62 heading southwest out of Corning. Corning is one of Clay County's two county seats, with Piggott, and the seat of its Western District. The Western District courthouse is in town. The town began as Hecht City, named for brothers with a Black River lumber mill, and moved here in 1871.

Corning was Clay County's first incorporated town, and it had 3,227 people at the 2020 Census. Out in the county, we also work around Knobel, Peach Orchard, Success, Datto, McDougal, Rector and Greenway.

On gumbo clay, a gravel driveway needs a crown so rain runs off to the sides. We spread and grade the gravel with the skid steer and fix potholes and washouts on older drives. A new entrance onto a county road or a highway like US 62 may need a permit. The county or ARDOT sets that, and we can tell you which office to call.