Wheat crop may see heavy loss

May 28, 2009      The Moultrie Observer

Alan Mauldin

May 28, 2009 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- MOULTRIE -- Without a respite in precipitation that allows combines into wheat fields, growers are looking at a potential disaster for the crop, which already has been damaged by wet conditions.

The delay in harvesting the winter wheat crop also has prevented farmers from planting cotton and peanuts on land where wheat is now in the fields.

Damage to wheat includes mold and the wheat germinating on the stalk.

An estimated 3,500 acres of wheat were planted in the county for the 2009 crop, down from nearly 10,000 acres in 2008.

"What we're seeing right now is if the rain continues this week, we'll probably see a lot of sprouting and quality damage in it," said Plenn Hunnicutt, owner of Sough Georgia Crop Insurance Inc. "It would really be a disaster."

The window of harvesting the crop without serious damage is narrow at this point, Hunnicutt said.

"We really need for today and tomorrow to be clear," he said. "The rest of this week the rain needs to hold off and we need to be in the fields in combines the first of next week."

Hunnicutt said he does not know the extent of the damage because harvested wheat will have to be graded to make that determination. No wheat has been harvested, so none has been graded.

"At this time we're expecting some damage," he said. "If it rains the next couple of days we're expecting major damage. By the weekend, if it doesn't stop raining, you rightly could call it a disaster."

As of Tuesday about 30 percent of cotton and peanuts had not been planted, Colquitt County Extension agent Scott Brown said. Ordinarily about 85 percent of those crops would have been planted at this time, but wheat growers have not been able to get a second crop in the ground.

The rain has caused problems for cotton and peanut seedlings as well, Brown said. Chemicals being used to battle the growth of herbicide-resistant pig weed has splashed onto peanuts and cotton with each rain, burning the young plants.

Farmers also cannot get into soggy fields to apply herbicides that should be applied at this time of year, Brown said. The quality of wheat also is suffering as the plants suffer mold, weakening of wheat straws and germination.

"We're on the edge of losing a wheat crop in Colquitt County right now," he said. "The wheat crop is being degraded every day due to the rain."

Prior to the recent rainfall conditions had been dry, and the long-term impact of the rain should be positive, Brown said.

It seems to go with the territory of farming in the county, which consistently is the top-rated agriculture county in the state.

"We've got a lot of problems right now. In Colquitt County, in my 25 years, you run into two situations," Brown said. "Either you stand in the mud and wonder if it's ever going to stop (raining), or you stand in the dust and wonder if it's ever going to start."

Newstex ID: 35324597

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