I’ve been getting a lot of questions about the impacts of Hurricane Debby on agriculture in the Southeast. Some impacts take a long time to evaluate because they can be caused by standing water in fields, whipping of wind on plants, and other factors that may not show up until much later in the growing season or even in harvest when yields are reduced. However, I have collected a variety of articles that discuss some of the immediate impacts of the storm and provided links below.
The most immediate severe impacts appear to be the loss of 50-75% of the Georgia tobacco crop due to winds and heavy rain hitting right at harvest and the erosion of peanut fields due to over a food of rain along the path of the storm, particularly in Screven County GA NW of Savannah. The Georgia Emergency Management SitRep reports list some losses of power to dairies and some loss of chicken coops but these appear to be fairly isolated with no widespread damage at this point. Extension agents and others are continuing to assess the impacts of the storm. It is interesting to note that even with over a foot of rain in some places, the heat and lack of subsequent rain led some farmers to start irrigating again just a week after the storm because the sandy soils shed water so quickly. The winds were low enough that most pecan groves had little damage, although trees in low-lying areas that were underwater may show effects in the future.
GA Farm Bureau Ag News: Tropical Storm Debby deluges Georgia farms, wipes out roads
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Debby devastates Georgia tobacco crop
North Carolina State Climate Office: Debby Drenches NC in Multi-Day Rain Event
Southeast AgNet: Hurricane Debby Impacts on Florida (1-minute audio on Florida cattle)
UGA Soybean podcast “All about the pod”: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/allaboutthepod/episodes/Episode-25–Season-2-e2n8p91
Growing Produce: Got Flooded Crops? Here Are Some Factors To Consider
UGA Blueberry blog: Disease Management Recommendations After the Storm
Morning Ag Clips: Disaster Assistance to Those in Ga. Impacted by Hurricane Debby
