Recent rains hamper farmers’ planting season, need sunshine

Recent rains haven’t helped farmers, Escambia County Extension Agent Anthony Wiggins said last week.

From June 20-22, 6.58 inches of rain fell on Atmore, according to the National Weather Service.

Wiggins said the effect of so much rain on crops is drastic.

“One of the big things to begin with is that they haven’t been able to finish planting,” he said.

In northwest Florida, the recent rains haven’t been good for farmers, Escambia County (Fla.) Agriculture Agent Libbie Johnson said.

“All of the rain we had recently has probably made a bad situation worse because farmers can’t get in their fields to spray for weeds,” Johnson said. “They’re not able to start their peanut fungicide. Some farmers still have not started planting and replanting.”

Johnson said right now, the plants need sunshine. Over the weekend, the sun did come out for most of Saturday and Sunday, and some on Monday and Tuesday.

Johnson said some 85 percent of the farm land has already been planted.

Wiggins said farmers are actually late in the planting season, and typically try to be through with planting peanuts and cotton by the end of May.

Wiggins said right now, it might be too late for farmers to plant. Some 25 percent of the crops haven’t been planted, he said.

“There still is an option for some of them to plant some soybeans,” he said. “How many of them will take that option? It’s not necessarily an option for everyone.”

Wiggins said in some instances, the planting period is so late that some farmers will take a preventative planting method.

“It then winds up being an insurance issue,” he said.

Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries John McMillan and Alabama Farmers Federation representatives have provided Gov. Kay Ivey’s office with the most up-to-date information about the conditions farmers are dealing with.

“The potential adverse impact from Tropical Storm Cindy will likely ruin crops that are already planted while at the same time create conditions where other crops cannot be planted and harvested in a timely fashion,” McMillan said. “Farmers have already spent money on seeds and fertilizer and now they cannot be fully utilized. This is a financial hardship on our farmers. Many Alabamians might not realize the magnitude this kind of disaster event has on agriculture. Aside from creating a less than profitable growing season, this situation only adds to the already depressed prices for agriculture commodities. The effect of this event will result in an economic loss for rural Alabama. Our farmers will feel the impact of this storm into this fall and winter.”

When asked what sort of an economic impact the late planting might have on the county, Wiggins said 25 percent of the crop hasn’t been planted.

“Now, what is planted, they won’t know until the harvest season,” he said. “There is still a possibility that crops here on out could have a decent yield. With this wet weather, they can’t get the fields for weed control. Things can deteriorate further.”