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VIENNE, GA. Standing in a crumbling field, Dan Simmons made some quick calculations as he peered row after row of curved rods with pieces of white cotton strewn across the greyish-brown soil.
"It's $ 64,000 lying around," said Simmons, 52. "I have never seen anything like it. It looks like an early snow.
The 80-acre field represented only a small portion of the 4,200 acres of cotton on the farm managed by Mr. Simmons, most of which was damaged by Hurricane Michael. The farm team worked hard to protect the harvest in the days leading up to the storm's arrival, but they spared that part of it. which would have been an exceptional harvest before the wind and the rains.
In Dooly County, in southern Georgia, about 175 miles from the back of Hurricane Michael, cotton farmers and pecan growers experienced high winds just weeks before the harvest.
In Dooly County, southern Georgia, cotton farmers and pecan growers were hit by strong hurricane-only winds just weeks before harvest.
"This is by far the most damaging event I have ever seen for the pecan industry," said Lenny Wells, Subject Matter Expert at the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension.
The state's pecan producers were expecting an excellent harvest of about 110 million pounds this year, but now it will probably yield half of that amount, Wells said. A similar assessment of damage to Georgia cotton has not been done. The value of cotton production in Michael's affected states rose to nearly $ 1.6 billion in 2017, according to a spokeswoman for the US Department of Agriculture. Farmers have also suffered losses in other crops, and about 87 henhouses have been destroyed throughout the state, the Georgia Ministry of Agriculture said.
In Vienna, Georgia, Dooly County headquarters, electricity was restored this week and all roads were cleared, but broken tree branches, roof pieces and lampposts lay in a park in front of the county courthouse. Outside the city, trees felled and fields destroyed along most of the roads. The air smelled of smoke when people burned debris.
Terrell Hudson, 71, chairman of the County Board and a long-time farmer, choked on the destruction.
"There will be farmers who will raise their hands and leave," he said.
Although many farmers have crop insurance coverage, coverage was largely limited and insurance payments will be based on average yields of previous years, not the high level this year.
Local insurance agent, Shan Akin, said his offices were flooded for days by farmer calls about crop insurance as well as property insurance. for damaged buildings and equipment.
Some farmers have other financial problems, including contracts signed earlier in the season to provide certain volumes of crops. With their fields destroyed, many people may have to try to buy crops in unaffected areas to meet these contracts.
Before the storm, the county farmers were literally "tall cotton", with the plant capsules – the white puff harvested for the textile – big, healthy and ready to harvest.
With about 70,000 acres planted each year for cotton production, Dooly County is the largest cotton producer in Georgia, according to the Cooperative Extension of the University of Georgia.
Matt Coley, owner-operator of the family-owned Coley Gin & Fertilizer Company, said gin could handle 40% less than expected. While cotton-processing machines were rumbling near his desk, Coley said he did not know how the company would react to the loss, but hoped to be able to process enough cotton and peanuts – which were not enough. were not too affected in the area – to save time. enough money "to be here next year."
"God has it in his hands," he said. "It's to the point that I'm worried and I'm not worried."
Ellis Brothers Pecans Inc. lost about 2,000 trees when Tropical Storm Irma hit the area last year. Hurricane Michael has overthrown at least 4,000 people, said director Slade Ellis, standing among fallen trunks and branches, dating back a century or so.
Many farmers signed contracts earlier in the season to provide some crop volumes. With the fields destroyed, many people may have to try to buy crops in unaffected areas to fulfill their obligations.
While he was walking, his boots were cracking pennies fallen by tens of thousands into a single orchard of 3,000 acres of pecan grown by the family.
"Our entire harvest is on the ground," said Ellis, 27. "It will be a rescue operation."
His family has taken out crop insurance, but experts will want them to harvest what they can, which will require the hiring of about 50 people to hire staff to recover some nuts before they deteriorate. he declared.
Corey Young, 31, a farm worker at Ellis Brothers, said, "It's a mess," but the storm created an opportunity for the county's unemployed in the short term.
"When I saw the storm coming, I saw work," he said. "It was the lining of money."
The biggest loss for Ellis Brothers concerns trees that are uninsured – farm crop insurance covering only pecans – and requiring growth of at least six years before producing crops. decent nuts and ten before producing well, said Mr. Ellis. Many uprooted trees have also damaged irrigation systems, he said.
When asked how the farm would recover from the storm, Mr. Ellis paused, then replied, "I do not know how to answer that."
Ben Kesling contributed to this article.
Write to Cameron McWhirter at [email protected]
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