Some South Georgia farmers face harvest loss following weekend storms

Lake Park, Ga. (WALB) - Farmers across South Georgia are working to clean up the damage left behind in the wake of this weekend’s storms.

Many growers are dealing with the loss of their crops.

Farmers in the area on Monday were busy dealing with the devastating loss of their harvest.

“Here we are with another season of ups and downs and it’s certainly a down Monday for some of our producers,” said Gary Black, the commissioner for the Georgia Department of Agriculture.

Crews from the Georgia Department of Agriculture worked to assess the situation and damage from the weekend’s storms.

Images from the crop fields in Lake Park, belonging to Tycor Farms show some of the damge. Owner and operator Brian Corbett described the situation as awful.

Crops impacted include cabbage, bell peppers, eggplant and squash.

Corbett said it was their picking time, and now it’ll be pushed back for a few weeks.

Lowndes County and Echols Emergency Management directors said they experienced mostly hail in the area.

“First call is going to be their insurance agents, very likely. Working their extension service and we have our commodities specialist working with them, gathering data,” said Black.

Black said the business day after a storm is a very busy one for farmers. They have to analyze the impact, save what’s salvageable and sometimes even replant the crops.

Black said they don’t have any reports of livestock or poultry affected, just crops and field damage.

“This is a bad situation, this kind of event, although, almost every year we see them, particularly from the heavy rain standpoints,” said Black.

It’s a challenge farmers encounter every year.

Black said some crops actually benefit from the rain, however, when it’s excessive, that’s when it interrupts the growing cycle.

“Overall, those that have been impacted severely, we just kind of hope and pray the Lord provides a way for us to get through this season 2021 and be a good Georgia growth food and vegetable season for most of our producers,” said Black.

Black said it is too soon to know how much of an economic impact this storm caused, especially since we are just at the beginning of the season.

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