A quarter of Virginia's cotton harvest delayed by rain

Rain continues to delay cotton harvest in Virginia, according to Joel Faircloth, the state's cotton specialist.

"We still have about 25% of our cotton still out there. but it won't quit raining long enough to wrap up harvest," Faircloth told us this afternoon. "It's rained 1.5 to 2 inches here at the station today (Tidewater REC at Suffolk). Last Sunday, it rained about 3 inches, and there were a couple of cases prior to that where areas received 4 to 5 inches. In October, an area 20 miles north of here received up to 18 inches in 12 hours, and the water literally washed some peanuts out of the field."

Yields, so far, have been "variable," Faircloth added. "Some folks have had exceptional yields, while others have had poor yields, at least compared to averages over the last 2 years," he said.