crop update - Wayne-Wilson News Leader, Fremont, NC

9 August 2007 — Despite rainstorms in the past few weeks that have helped the rainfall deficit, most farms in the area are still having some issues due to an abnormally dry summer, said Kevin Johnson of the Wayne County Cooperative Extension.

Mr. Johnson said that, though some areas have received rain in the past few weeks, others are still very dry.

“The storms we’ve had have been really localized,” he said. “Some farms are doing really nice, but some, especially in the Fremont area, are suffering.”

One of the biggest concerns for local farmers, he said, is the corn crop. He estimates that local corn loss will be around 40 percent this year.

“You have to have rain when the corn is pollinating, which we didn’t, and the temperature needs to be moderate, which it wasn’t,” he said.

Because of bad conditions when the corn was pollinating, many crops won’t fare well this season, which is unfortunate because a lot more corn was planted this year than in years past.

However, Mr. Johnson said the tobacco crop for this year is looking about average, and he expects to have a fair crop come harvest time.

Cotton also looks good, he said, but most of the cotton crop in Wayne County is concentrated in the southern areas this year. Though several farmers in the Fremont area were growing a cotton crop, they have not this year because of increased prices for growing the crop. Mr. Johnson said that Wayne County had 22,000 acres of cotton last year, with much of that in the northern end of the county. This year, Wayne County only has about 9,000 acres. That cotton is concentrated in the southern end of the county, because farmers there have an investment in cotton gins in the area.

The soybean crop also looks fairly good, said Mr. Johnson, but the crop could definitely use more rain.

“The bottom line is that we just need more rain if we want good crops this year; that’s the biggest concern in the agricultural sector right now,” he said.

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