Rain Puts Damper on Tobacco Crop

Source from:  13 WMAZ Macon 07/20/2009

Some South Georgia tobacco farmers say the frequent downpours drowned their crops. "It's been a difficult crop trying to adjust from too much excess rain to not enough rain," said Jerry Wooten, who owns a farm in Jeff Davis County. He's worked with crops since he was a boy, but this year he has fewer tobacco plants to look after. Wooten says he lost about a quarter of his crop to drowning and rain washing away his weed-killers. Tim Varnedore, a University of Georgia extension agent for Jeff Davis County, says the unusual amount of rain destroyed acres of tobacco at some farms. "Usually, from March to June, we'll get somewhere in the neighborhood of 9 to 12 inches. This year we got somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 to 28 inches." Varnedore says farmers in Jeff Davis lost 65 to 75 percent of their crop, but with different weather in Georgia that amount sits at 12 to 14 percent across the state. "We were lucky enough that we had it on a bed already and it kept the water off of the tobacco some," said Wooten, describing the extra inches of soil he uses to raise his plants. He says that elevation helped save some of his crop, but his neighbors didn't have the same success. "They lost every single hill, it just completely drowned," he said of the loss. He hopes they won't see it again next season. "We'll have to just start with a clean slate next year, maybe everything'll be better next year. You always hope for a better year the next time," said Wooten. Enditem