BAKER CO., GA (WALB) -
As harvest time approaches, are South Georgia farm fields getting too much rain?
Farmers often pray for rain, but right now many of them want the rain to slow down because it could ruin their peanut and cotton crops... and hurt their bank accounts.
The peanuts and cotton on Tim Burch's Baker County farm are almost ready to pick. As he prepares for the harvest, he has mixed emotions about the heavier than normal rain his fields have gotten lately.
"So far, the rain that we've gotten has been a blessing for the peanut, but it's hurting me some on my cotton," said Burch.
Burch says rainy weather followed by cloudy skies will rot his cotton bolls.
"This is a boll that cracked yesterday or today and had cloudy, rainy weather and has begun to rot. In a few days it will look like this one and it will just be a hard boll that won't be pickable. That's due to rain and humidity without sunshine," said Burch.
That means less money in Burch's pockets when he harvests and sells his crop.
"If it stays over cast for 2 or 3 days in a row, we have a lot of boll rot and it probably has hurt yields 300 to 400 pounds already on cotton," said Burch.
For now, Burch laughs off Mother Nature's mistimed gift.
"We have been praying for rain and I guess if we get all what we pray for we would be flooded," laughed Burch.
He remains optimistic most of his crop will yield a good product.
Burch says the recent rain has helped his peanuts. Had it come earlier than it did, his crop would have been over-matured before the harvesting process.
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