Alabama’s flagship crops suffer with drought

By William White

Published: August 28, 2008

SHORTER — While expensive to grow, peanuts and cotton, considered Alabama’s flagship crops, have been facing a third year of drought.

“This year is worse in a way because the cost of production is even higher than the previous two (years),” said Leonard Kuykendall, regional extension agent in agronomy.

“It is real spotty. The market for cotton hasn’t gone up much,” the Extension agent said. “And peanuts are up just a little bit.

“For cotton, where people have been able to get some rain, it is fair, but they are going to have to have real high yields over the whole crop to make any money,” he said. “It is better for some people, but it is just as bad as the last one or two (years) for some of us. It is going to make it real hard for some of these people to keep farming economically because of the weather.”

“Peanuts and cotton are expensive crops to grow, but they both fruit over a long period of time,” Kuykendall said.

“A lot of time if we can get some rain they are able to come back, put on some fruit and allow you to make a crop.

“Everything is so expensive now, it takes good yields, and it takes good markets too.”

More than 50 producers, state officials, Extension agents and industry representatives heard from extension specialists Wednesday morning during the 31st annual East Central Alabama Cotton-Peanut Tour at the E.V. Smith Research Center.

Kuykendall and Jeff Clary hosted the annual tour that included looking at cover crops and this year’s cotton and peanut fields with different varieties at the Taylor Brother Farm, Shep Morris’s cotton fields, the Segrest Brothers Farm, the research center’s Field Crop Unit and Plant Breeding Unit, USDA Tillage Lab cover crop and cotton tillage demonstration.

Those attending heard about different varieties being studied, foliar fungicides, nematode control, managing insects, weed control programs, defoliation, seed offerings, winter and summer cover crops and energy crop research.