Extension Chief Cautions Leaf Growers as

Source from:  Frances advances By PHYLISS BOATWRIGHT, C-T Staff Writer  09/03/2004

Person County farmers dodged the bullet of Tropical Storm Gaston Monday, even though as much as four and one-half inches of rain was reported in parts of the county. Now, however, farmers are worried they won't be so lucky when Hurricane Frances makes landfall over the Labor Day weekend. County Cooperative Extension Service Director Derek Day said Tuesday that tobacco farmers around the area reported between three and four and one-half inches of rain Monday, but no significant crop damage. Day said the only effect Gaston had on tobacco here was a possibility that already mature crops might ripen more quickly, putting farmers behind in harvesting. Overall, said Day, the crop in Person County was at a stage in its growth where Monday's rain did it little or no harm. But should more rain come this weekend, along with power outages as a result of high winds, farmers could be in for a bumpy ride, Day said. Day emphasized that growers should watch the hurricane forecasts and be ready to act should the storm head this way and raise the possibility of power losses. Heat should be turned off the barns, he said, no matter the stage of curing, in order to cool the leaves before the electricity goes out. "It was our experience during Hurricane Fran," in 1998, said Day, "that taught us tobacco will keep up to three days with no air if it's cool." He advised growers to "get the heat out of the barns" if it appears Hurricane Frances is going to hit the area. Day said farmers should keep the fans running in the tobacco curing barns and turn off the heat to cool the leaves because, "if it's 130 degrees when the power goes off, [the tobacco] will start rotting immediately." The Extension director said some growers in the county had called his office this week seeking advice on the purchase of portable power generators in case of power outages over the weekend. Day said, however, that most of the "idle supply" of generators was in Florida, which was hard hit by Hurricane Charley in August and was, as of Tuesday, in the projected path of Hurricane Frances. At 11 a.m. Tuesday, Hurricane Frances, the eighth named storm of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season, was 175 miles northeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico, moving west at 15 miles per hour with maximum winds of 135 miles per hour. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center said the course of the category four storm remained a tough one to call, because it was then at least five days from reaching land. The Center did, however, issue a warning that Hurricane Frances could impact the southeastern United States around Labor Day. Enditem