While Hurricane Florence has grabbed the bulk of the news about damage to agriculture in the Southeast, Tropical Storm Gordon also caused some major problems for growers in the Panhandle of Florida and southern Alabama. Gordon came through early in September and hit that area right when cotton and peanuts were starting to be harvested. The wind and rain from the storm, although not as extreme as Florence, was enough to cause a lot of cotton to lodge and slow down the harvest of peanuts in the region. Much of the cotton has not risen back up, and bolls on the ground have rotted from the wet conditions. Farmers don’t know how they will be able to defoliate with the conditions the crops are in. You can read more at the IFAS Extension bulletin at https://nwdistrict.ifas.ufl.edu/phag/2018/09/28/tropical-storm-gordons-impact-on-cotton-and-peanuts-in-escambia-and-santa-rosa-counties/. It’s too early to estimate losses yet because there is so much uncertainty about whether any cotton can be saved and if the peanuts will survive the wet conditions in good shape.
