Some farmers can expect serious crop damage after Hurricane Irene stormed through Saturday, experts say, and for some it remains an unknown until harvest.
“There's big time crop damage,” said Rives Manning, an independent agent who handles crop insurance. “We don't know the end results. Cotton was beat all to pieces. Tobacco is beat up.”
Cotton was beginning to open, Manning said today. “At best, the cotton crop is 50 percent of what it would have been been.”
Manning, who is without power at his office, is awaiting hard copies of claim forms for farmers to fill out.
Farmers were on the verge of a good year and the cotton harvest was projected to bring in 1,000 to 1,200 pounds, Manning said. “We'll be lucky if we make 500 to 600. We've got a lot of others who won't make that. It will vary from field to field.”
In Darlington there is tobacco leaves on plants, where Manning anticipated them being on the ground. “You can't tell. We won't know until we harvest.”
One of the advantages farmers had this year was that it was dry early. “That helped them stay on top,” Manning said. “If it had been wet in June we would have had more losses than we have now. I don't know what the end result will be. One is advantage is most of the farmers have crop insurance. It won't make them money, but it will keep the dogs away from the door.”
In Northampton County, interim Cooperative Extension Director Craig Ellison said tobacco was probably hurt the most. “Our tobacco harvested was at 25 to 30 percent. We had 70 to 80 percent left in the field and you've only got so much barn space. You've got to stagger the harvest. We don't know how bad it's going to be.”
Corn was around 30 percent harvested, Ellison said. Of the 5,000 acres still left in fields, the county is looking at a possible 25 percent corn loss.
If there is any bright spot, it may be with soybeans and peanuts. “I think the rain will benefit them more than the wind damaged them.”
Some fields didn't have any crops affected, Ellison said, so the loss in cotton is expected to be between 10 percent to 20 percent. “Any cotton boll touching the ground you can kiss it goodbye. Any weather that gets behind the storm it can be affected, it could cause more problems. If we have sunny weather the next two weeks it could help us recover some. The critical time is when cotton opens up.”
There are losses, Ellison said. “Farmers have dealt with a lot of stuff over the years. This may slow down the harvest speed. They need to take their time and make sure they get set up right and drag the season out.”
Until the harvest, Ellison said any dollar amount is just a guess. “We will get solid numbers as we get the crop in.”
Farmers, he said, “They are holding their heads up. They're anxious. In some areas they've got a pretty good crop. Some who went through a drought, theirs is going to be average. There are some who had a really good crop before the storm. If we get the right weather, they may harvest that crop.”
