Take home on peanuts and cotton:
On peanuts, Dr. Scott Monfort: “Only dig the risky fields from disease, poor stem strength etc, over mature with nuts coming loose in hull. If vines are healthy leave them in the ground until the storm passes.”
On cotton, Dr. Camp Hand: “If your crop has been defoliated in the last week, pick it ASAP particularly if you have a variety prone to “falling out”. If not, hold off defoliating until the storm passes.”
Update on storm from this morning, Pam Knox:
“Hurricane Ian made landfall at 5:30 this morning in far western Cuba as a major hurricane with winds of 125 mph. It is already raining in South Florida and a tornado warning has been issued for parts of the Keys.
The latest forecast shows that the National Hurricane Center is now leaning towards a more eastern path for Ian, which is expected to make landfall somewhere near Tampa as a major hurricane Wednesday evening, although there is still a lot of wiggle room in the forecasts for anywhere on the west coast of Florida. The forward motion of the storm is now slower than in previous forecasts, which gives us a little more time to prepare in Georgia. It also means that the storm will weaken more than originally forecast, and it will likely come into Georgia as a depression, so winds will also be weaker than we were afraid of. But there will still be impacts throughout the state, with nearly all the state receiving 2-4 inches and the coastal areas up to 10 inches. Since it is convective rain, it will be spotty, and some areas could measure more or lesser amounts. Gusty winds will happen throughout most of the state, and isolated tornadoes may occur along and to the east of the eventual path of Ian. There is already a storm surge watch for the southern Georgia coast as winds from the east will blow water onshore and into the marshes and low-lying areas.
Since it is moving slower, we can now expect to see some impacts through Saturday, although rain could start in the southeastern part of the state as early as Wednesday, although more likely later in the day on Thursday. By Saturday night, most of the storm will have exited the state, although there could be some lingering showers. The forecasts are likely to continue to evolve as the latest model forecasts come in, so keep paying attention to updates from the National Hurricane Center and National Weather Service.
Please keep the people of western Florida in your prayers, as this could be a terrible disaster for them with up to 10 feet of storm surge and 125 mph winds at landfall wherever it hits.”
