Georgia peanut farmers, still reeling from the effects of Hurricane Michael on October 10-11, are facing uncertainty about when and where to unload their crop after harvest, says University of Georgia Cooperative Extension peanut agronomist Scott Monfort.

What was an extremely promising Georgia cotton crop was devastated when Hurricane Michael ravaged south Georgia Oct. 10-11. According to Jared Whitaker, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension cotton agronomist, the prospects of 1,500 to 1,800 pounds of dryland cotton for some producers were reduced, resulting in 80 to 90 percent losses in some fields.

Heavy rainfall across the western half of Georgia helped to keep daytime temperatures low, while nighttime temperatures were a little above normal throughout August. 

July saw the return of normal summertime temperatures to Georgia, but those normal summertime temperatures are still punishingly hot.

Last year’s summer peach crop was disastrous, but Georgia’s peach crop rebounded this summer following colder temperatures in December and January, according to Jeff Cook, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources agent for Taylor and Peach counties.

University of Georgia agricultural climatologist Pam Knox has been named interim director of UGA’s network of 86 weather stations across Georgia.

Two consecutive weeks of rainfall in Georgia stunted the growth of the state’s peanut crop and created ideal conditions for diseases in vegetable fields, leaving farmers scrambling to decide what to do next.

Longtime residents of Georgia may remember the devastating floods of Tropical Storm Alberto in July 1994. The rain was so intense that Georgia’s one-day rainfall record was set during that storm: 21.10 inches of rain was recorded in Americus, Georgia, over a 24-hour period ending on July 6, 1994, as the storm stalled over the state. Despite that incredible record and the resulting damage, the National Hurricane Center did not retire that storm’s name. “Alberto” is the first on the list of Atlantic tropical storm names for the 2018 season, which begins on June 1.

Now is the peak time to plant peanuts in Georgia, according to Cristiane Pilon, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension peanut physiologist.