If We Make It Through December…

The GA weather station in Arabi has recorded 9.8 inches of rain since the first weekend in December. I hear as much as 1,500 acres left to pick on some operations. We’ll be picking in February likely. Growers are saying, “The Hurricane took the yield and the rain is taking the quality.” Cotton can stay out in the field after it’s done, and that’s why we get our peanuts first. But if we can get cotton, it is better to get it. Some growers were able to get the early cotton picked when it was done. That is great. Now and unfortuneately, a lot of the late planted cotton – that did better in the hurricane – has been sitting for months.

Cotton Variety Trial on Tuesday planted June 12th escaped lots of damage from Hurricane Michael since it wasn’t open.

We tried to pick some this week but did not get much. Some growers got 40 acres picked. It was sunny Monday through Wednesday. I don’t think it was warm enough to dry out the soil. We thought for sure we could get more picked this week. Even in fields that are normally drier, we are still getting stuck. With today and yesterday’s rain, and possibly more next week, we won’t get back to picking until after New Year. It’s a situation where we just want to close the door and start over next year.

Hard to see against the trees. This cotton picker is turned completely sideways on Wednesday after hitting mud. This is the highest part of the driest field they had after 2 1/2 days of no rain and sunlight. It just barely got out, and no more cotton picked.

From the photo above, highest parts of the field still wet. If we had warmer weather, we may have dried out more. It doesn’t matter now though….

Young Farmer’s Meeting

Nonetheless it was the busiest week before Christmas I’ve ever had. But it was a great week! Young Farmer’s teacher Ira Tucker held another meeting Tuesday night. Kevin Phillips from Pioneer spoke with us about the 2018 growing season, nematodes and new varieties. Ira let me share information from a corn nutrient trial I worked with Dr. Regan Nolan and many county agents on.

Kevin Phillips talks about the 2018 corn season, new varieties, and issues with nematodes.

I spoke about a corn nutrient trial where we had plots here in the county. The trial was mostly to confirm current UGA leaf tissue recommendations.

Pulaski Farmer’s Appreciation Dinner

Perhaps the most eventful part of the week was attending the farmer’s appreciation dinner in Hawkinsville last night where I was asked to read the Christmas Story. I was also asked to introduce the new Southwest District Program Development Coordinator for Agriculture, Mr. Ronnie Barentine. Then, or lets just say it was mentioned, that maybe I could do a short – not long – impression of Ronnie Barentine……Is it okay to put this on the blog?

Congratulations Ronnie!

It’s been a long harvest season to say the least. But this photo by Luke Brown catches a glimpse of beauty through it all.

Hope you have Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!