Onslow Tobacco, Corn Hit Hardest by Charley

Source from:  ROSELEE PAPANDREA DAILY NEWS STAFF  08/19/2004

Wind and rain from Hurricane Charley and Tropical Storm Bonnie last week left Onslow and Duplin county farmers with some crop damage with the biggest losses in tobacco. but agriculture officials said the problems could have been far worse. Agents with N.C. Cooperative Extension and the Farm Service Agency spent Monday and Tuesday assessing tobacco, corn, cotton and soybean crops. Charley whipped the area with heavy rainfall and wind gusts up to 50 mph Saturday. The wind was a particular problem. It ripped prime tobacco leaves from their stalks and knocked corn and cotton plants over, which will make harvesting more difficult, said Jeff Morton, an agent with the Onslow County office of the N.C. Cooperative Extension. In Onslow County, there was about a 15-percent loss in tobacco, a 10-percent loss in corn and cotton and a 5-percent loss in soybeans, said Lisa Watkins, executive director of the Farm Service Agency in Onslow County. Duplin County's damage estimates were similar with a 10-percent loss in tobacco and corn. There was no significant damage to cotton or soybeans, said Bryant Spivey, an agent with the Duplin County office of the N.C. Cooperative Extension. Officials estimated that there were about $19 million in damages to farms in southeastern North Carolina. About $17.9 million of damages were estimated in reports from farmers in Bladen, Columbus, Duplin, New Hanover and Pender counties. Brunswick County officials reported an additional $1.2 million to $1.5 million loss, according to The Associated Press. There were no monetary estimates available in Onslow County. "All in all it looks like crops came through fairly well considering everything," Morton said. Even so the ground is wet and farmers are in need of dry weather to get their equipment into the fields, Morton said. Although some of the tobacco was harvested prior to last week's storms, the leaves that were left on the plants were the ones that bring in the most money, Morton said. "It was the upper leaves that were left and they bring more money," he said.A lot of the stalks of the field corn, which is mostly used for animal feed, were broken above the ears, Morton said. The wind also blew many stalks over, flattening it as if a truck had driven through the fields. "The combine can't harvest the corn when it's lying down," Spivey said. "If we have continued wet weather, there might be more loss." When corn stalks are blown over and matted on the ground, the ears take longer to dry. "When the ear is standing up on a stalk the wind can blow through it and dry it quicker," Spivey said. "It's fairly important that the corn growers get in the field and begin to harvest now," Spivey said. "We don't have a lot of that right now. It's still too early because people are working in tobacco, but we really need to get this corn harvested." When tobacco receives wind damage, it naturally produces a chemical called ethylene, which causes the plant to ripen quicker, Spivey said. "We don't want the ripening process to get too far ahead of the harvesting process," Spivey said. "If it does, we will have additional losses." While the weather over the next two weeks will determine how some of the crops will do this season, many farmers were relieved the storms didn't do more damage, Spivey said. "Most of them think they dodged a bullet," Spivey said. "I would say that's the case based on the hurricanes in the past, which have been a lot more damaging." Enditem