By Clint Thompson
Hurricane Helene devastated Georgia’s cotton crop, especially those planted east of I-75. The Georgia Cotton Commission and University of Georgia Cotton Team implore growers to assess and document damages so they can get what financial help they can.
Camp Hand, UGA Extension cotton agronomist, discusses the concerns producers have now that destructive winds and major flooding have wiped out a substantial amount of the state’s crop.
“It’s the combination of wind and rain that has caused the situation that we’re in. It’s not just one or the other, it’s both. The wind is going to complicate harvests and defoliation and stuff like that. The rain is going to keep us from getting into the field when we need to,” Hand said. “The major concern right now is we already weren’t going to make any money growing cotton. Now what was there, there’s not much left. Some of these guys have got to get some help. That’s just what I think has got to happen for us to keep going.
“Get with the FSA, get with your crop insurance guys. Take a bunch of pictures. We’re trying to get numbers with Extension so that we can help inform some of the decisions that are coming out of Washington.”
Cotton farmers east of I-75 were especially impacted by Helene when the storm moved through South Georgia.
“East of 75 got bad. I heard from some folks, they had sprayed a little bit, and there’s more of it on the ground than there’s left on the plant to get. That’s the defoliated situation. A lot of the crop that hadn’t been defoliated east of 75, there’s still a lot of cotton on the ground,” Hand said. “I just didn’t think it was going to go that far. Pretty much the road that I would drive to Midville and then even over to Appling County, into Toombs, it got real bad.”