Georgia: planting lags, crops wither in oppressive drought

The following is an excerpt from a University of Georgia article we received yesterday. Click here to read the full report.

Extreme drought now covers most agricultural areas, delaying peanut and cotton planting and raising concerns for the crops this year.

Dust blows thick across dry Georgia fields, where 66 percent of the soil is reported as very short in moisture, the worst category. Only 7 percent is normally ranked very short at this time of year. In central and south Georgia, where most peanuts and cotton are planted, 70 percent to 90 percent is very short. "

The drought is the worst for this time of year that anyone can ever remember," said John Beasley, a peanut agronomist with the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension."We've had a dry April and May before, but never preceded by ... well below normal rainfall from November to March."

Georgia farmers usually start and finish planting peanuts in May. Earlier this spring, Georgia agricultural officials estimated farmers would plant 500,000 acres.

But so far, only 33 percent of that has been planted, according to a Georgia Agricultural Statistics Service survey of county extension agents. Planting is typically more than half over by this time.