Rain bolsters county crops
By Joey Pitchford
Published in News on June 13, 2016 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/DENNIS HILL
James Rouse plows cucumbers in a field near Seven Springs late last week. Recent rains have helped most field crops in the county get off to a good start.
Recent rain has boosted most field crops in Wayne County, according to Wayne County Extension agent Tyler Whaley.
Whaley said the recent rainy weather caused a few minor delays for planting and field work, but that the weather has not negatively impacted the crops.
"We did experience some nights at which temperatures were below average, and that slowed plant growth to some degree," he said. "However, since temperatures have become more seasonal, the crops have responded well and as a whole look pretty good right now."
"A fair amount of crop acreage looks so good it's almost scary," he added.
Several crops have seen slight decreases in planting this year while other have stayed the same or even increased, according to the Wayne County Agricultural Extension.
Wheat is the only crop to have been harvested at this point, with 15,715 acres. This is down nearly 10,000 acres from 2015, when farmers planted 26,928 acres.
The other numbers are mostly estimates right now, as the deadline for acreage information is July 15.
Whaley said that he estimates about 9,500 to 10,000 acres for tobacco, compared to the 10,469 acres planted last year. Tobacco was planted between mid-April and mid-May.
Corn acreage is expected to rise, Whaley said, with between 20,000 and 25,000 acres this year as opposed to 18,851 acres in 2015. Corn planting began in late March and ended in mid-May.
Whaley estimated that soybeans, which began planting in late April and have not finished being planted, will amount to about 60,000 acres. Wayne County had 64,474 acres of soybeans in 2015.
Cotton planting is expected to decrease, from 4,120 acres in 2015 to between 3,000 and 3,500 acres this year. Farmers planted cotton throughout the month of May.
Wayne County Extension Director Kevin Johnson said that agriculture is the No. 1 industry in Wayne County, with a total industry impact of over $1 billion as of 2012. That number includes not only farmers but also agriculture businesses like Mt. Olive Pickle Co. and Butterball.
"If you look at the big picture, five of the top six businesses in Wayne County are agriculture businesses," he said.
The total farm cash receipts for Wayne County in 2014 was $135,768,207.