During the past several weeks, we have dodged two big storms. Hurricane Charley did major damage in Florida, but by the time it got to us, it was only rain and a little wind. Tropical storm Gaston never developed into a real hurricane. Although many areas received a tremendous amount of rainfall, we only received a little rain and a little wind.

We are now anxiously watching Hurricane Frances. Frances is still several hundred miles from Florida, but it is a powerful storm, and no matter which route it takes, it appears that we will most likely be affected.

Major hurricanes cause problems for all of us. In addition to flooding, high winds can cause serious damage to buildings. Trees are blown down, not only creating a mess but often causing additional property damage and the loss of electrical power. Unfortunately, major storms are often also responsible for the loss of human life.

When tropical storms or hurricanes fail to reach their potential or pass us by, it tends to be just an inconvenience for most of us. Our trip to the beach may be rained out or we may have to clean up a few limbs and twigs from our yards. Very few people reading this column realize just how devastating even a small tropical storm can be for our local farmers.

Hurricane season is the time of the year when tobacco is being harvested and cured. It is the time of year when most of our field crops reach maturity and are ready to be harvested.

Tobacco is a brittle crop that is easily broken up and bruised. High winds, even those less than hurricane strength, can break leaves from the stalk and leave them on the ground. Leaves remaining on the stalk can be easily bruised. Once bruised, they will deteriorate quickly and, even if harvested, will not cure properly.

Even though Charley and Gaston missed our county, they still resulted in approximately $1 million worth of damage to our local tobacco farmers. Final yields were reduced because of leaves being broken from the stalks. The selling price of the up-stalk tobacco will be less than normal because bruised tobacco will not cure properly and will bring a lower price on the market. Wet fields will make it difficult or impossible to harvest the remaining tobacco.

Tobacco farmers are harvesting their remaining tobacco as quickly as they possibly can. However, they cannot harvest any faster than they can cure it with the barns they have available. If Hurricane Frances comes through our county this weekend with the force that is anticipated, our tobacco farmers will suffer even more losses.

Corn is now ready for harvest. However, the fields have been too wet recently to support the heavy combines. In addition, many farmers are working day and night trying to get as much tobacco out of the fields as possible, and they do not have time to harvest corn.

Charley and Gaston caused some of the corn to be blown over which will make it more difficult to harvest. At this point, if the fields dry out, combines can gather most of the corn that is blown over and only minimum harvest loss will result. But Frances could cause much more of the corn to be blown down so bad that harvest losses may exceed 20% - 30%. This could result in losses of well over $5 million to our corn farmers.

Cotton is now reaching the final stages of maturity where the bolls begin opening and exposing the beautiful white cotton fibers. Cotton quality can be seriously reduced when cotton fibers are exposed to extended or excessive rainfall. High winds will blow much of the cotton out of the bolls and leave it rotting on the ground. Any cotton that is harvested will bring a much lower price, because the quality will be much less than what the cotton mills need to operate their machinery or to produce their products.

Cotton damage from Charley and Gaston was minimal. Frances could cause much more damage. If other hurricanes come through our area later this season, cotton losses could reach well over $3 million. For the sake of our farmers, as well as for everyone else in the county, let's hope Frances does not cause the problems that are anticipated.

E-mail address: Everett_Davis@ncsu.edu

Mailing Address:
P. O. Box 2280
Lumberton, NC 28359-2280

Phone: 910-671-3276
Fax: 910-671-6278

Date Created 9/13/04