Over the past couple of months I have received many questions about weather-related crop insurance and why the counties designated by the RMA do not match what they have experienced in their area. Producers are frustrated when they experience weather that they think clearly meets the requirements for the insurance and yet they are not considered as affected counties by …
Hurricane Insurance Protection-Wind Index (HIP-WI) endorsement due to Hurricane Helene
Yesterday, USDA-RMA published a preliminary list of counties that triggered payments for the Hurricane Insurance Protection-Wind Index (HIP-WI) endorsement due to Hurricane Helene. Soon after that, we received calls from concerned producers, crop insurance agents, and others invested in the cotton industry regarding certain counties that had not triggered a payment. Commission staff reached out to the folks at RMA, …
Hurricane Helene Devastates Rural Southeast
With over 225 lives lost and many others still missing, Hurricane Helene’s devastation will cast a long shadow over affected communities. As the most powerful hurricane ever to strike Florida’s Big Bend region and the deadliest Atlantic storm since Hurricane Maria in 2017, Helene has left these communities not only grieving for lost loved ones but also grappling with the …
Considerations following Hurricane Helene
By: Camp Hand and Wade Parker In the days following Hurricane Helene, we have begun assessing damage and determining yield and quality losses associated with the storm. Unfortunately, this will take some time but myself, our county agents, and my team of graduate students and student workers are diligently working to get this data out. While we are waiting on …
The Losses are Mounting…and are Projected to get Worse
Over the last two weeks, row crop producers descended on the nation’s capital, lobbying for passage of a new farm bill and highlighting the need for ad hoc disaster assistance. If you do not personally live with the constant barrage of challenges facing our nation’s farmers and ranchers – ranging from droughts, wildfires, and hurricanes to inflation and market collapses …
Hurricane Helene Devastates Georgia Farms
In the early hours September 27th, Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc on south, southeast, east and parts of central Georgia and made an exceptionally damaging impact on farms. Affected producers are reporting yield losses ranging from 35% to a total loss, depending on location in the state. Producers are also reporting significant losses in farm structures, equipment, and infrastructure. Official reports …
Gentry – A New Mother’s Plea for Cotton
Although I was raised in rural Middle Georgia, I was not very familiar with agriculture, nor was I familiar with the fashion and textile industries. The closest Target or any major retail store was an hour away. We would occasionally make a Saturday girl’s trip to the nearest mall to shop for school clothes. Like many of us, I was …
Kemerait – You get one chance for nematode control…. Start planning for it now
Nematodes cost cotton growers in Georgia millions and millions of dollars each year. The costs come from loss of yield and in the purchase of nematicides. Used judiciously, the value of increased yield more than offsets the cost of the nematicide. Growers next year have a single best chance to protect their crop from nematodes; this chance comes before the …
OUR LEAST FAVORITE SUBJECT IN NC COTTON
Guy D. Collins Keith L. Edmisten Michael Phillips Jeremy Hendricks and Evan Sayani North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC Abstract Due to its geographical location, North Carolina is subject to encounter tropical weather during August through October annually, similarly to other southeastern coastal states. Furthermore, the large majority of cotton is produced in the coastal plains region of NC, …
Knox – Potential Major Hurricane Heads North towards Florida Panhandle
Over the last day, the area of potential development in the western Caribbean has become much more organized and has been designated as Invest 97 by the National Hurricane Center. This designation means the disturbance has become well-enough established to provide meaningful data about where the storm might go, although there is still a lot of uncertainty until the storm …
Porter Considerations for Optimizing Operations During Cotton Harvest
Wesley M. Porter, Associate Professor and Extension Ag Engineer University of Georgia While this production season has seemed to be spread out across multiple months in the beginning, we are reaching that time of year that Camp Hand likes to say “The smell of Folex is in the air”. It’s easy to recognize that smell if you have spent any …
Staying Positive While We Wait for a Farm Bill
During every farm bill cycle, we get asked to provide updates at county, regional, state-wide, and national meetings in the years leading up to the bill, during bill development, and in instances where it appears progress has stalled – like now. Sometimes the message is not fun to deliver. But, it’s the job, and it’s better to give an honest assessment …