By Clint Thompson
Counties located on the east side of I-75 in Georgia are in a much dire situation with their cotton fields compared to those on the west side, following Hurricane Debby and its excessive rainfall this week.
Camp Hand, University of Georgia (UGA) Extension cotton agronomist, highlighted the situation facing cotton growers in the southeast part of the state.
“On the east side of the state, it’s so variable. You’ve got spots where you’ve got four inches, and then 10 miles down the road you’ve got spots where you’ve got 10 inches. That’s not including that a lot of these places got a rain on Saturday and even some on Sunday before the storm come in,” Hand said. “What that tells me is that a lot of our stuff was already saturated, and then we get a storm like that that comes over us and sits on top of the state and dumps another 10. There is standing water out there.”
Indirect Impact
That does not take into account the indirect losses that will arise from the rain-heavy storm.
“You’ve got the direct loss from the storm potentially; if that water stays in fields and doesn’t move off and the sun doesn’t stay out and wind doesn’t start blowing, you could just see some stuff die from anaerobic conditions,” Hand said. “But then you’ve got the indirect, and that’s what worries me more than anything about being able to get in the field and make insecticide or fungicide applications or PGRs (plant growth regulators). If we can’t move the sprayer down a dirt road, how are we going to get a picker in there?
“We’ve had so much rain; these roads are washed out. You think about the number of fields that are off a dirt road. It’s not like all of these roads are going to get fixed tomorrow so we can get back in the field and get back to growing this crop. Some of it’s going to be more indirect, because we just can’t back into the field.”
Recommendations
Hand estimates at least 50% of the state’s cotton crop is located east of I-75. He offers recommendations for producers facing uncertainty amid the flooded conditions.
“I’d say right now let’s not make any decisions in haste. No. 1, let’s wait to make any major management decisions on this crop. I’d give it about a week before we did anything and then see how it’s responding,” Hand said. “No. 2, there’s going to be some folks that have to make calls to aerial applicators for certain things once we get down the road. Start preparing for stuff like that just in the event you can’t get to your field because of dirt roads being washed out.”