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Dry conditions have an effect on GA's number one industry, says Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin

June 22, 2006

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Dry conditions have an effect on GA’s number one industry, says Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin

Today, Georgia farmers are coping with dry weather and soil conditions that challenge their ability to produce crops this summer.

While much of the southern and costal regions are still reaping the benefits of two to three inches of rain from tropic storm Alberto, the northern reaches of the state are experiencing dry weather and a lack of moisture in the soil which has dwarfed wheat and hay harvest and dried up grazing pastures for livestock.

Field corn, soybeans, tobacco, and cotton are all in the ground, but are growing slowly statewide due to lack of rain.  Officials believe without rain in the next week or two, row crops along with the state’s highly prized peanut and pecan crops could be affected.

 “Alberto provided a reprieve from the effects of drought for some of our farmers,” says Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin. “But, over most of our state, pastures and non-irrigated corn fields are experiencing a great deal of trouble due to a lack of rainfall.”

Irvin says although a fair number of successful farmers in Georgia have irrigation systems in use today, it is not a permanent fix to the drought-like conditions some agriculturists are facing.

“Irrigation can never be the permanent solution to a drought,” Irvin says.  “The high cost of fuel to run irrigation pumps presents a challenge as well as never having enough water to irrigate all of your crops, all of the time.”

Seventeen Georgia weather stations have reported less than an inch of rain over the past 30 days.  Soil moisture loss during the same period is up to seven inches in the driest regions of the state.

 

 

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