90% Of Alabama Corn, 75% Of Cotton Lost As Deep South Drought Goes On

[hatrack]

EDIT

The McMichens and thousands of other farmers in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and parts of Georgia and the Florida Panhandle have been hammered by the drought that began at the end of last year's hurricane season, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center in Lincoln, Neb. Despite the rain that seemed almost to mock the McMichens this week, the drought is far from over.

"It is widespread in the Southeast," says Brian Fuchs, a climatologist at the center. "Over the last several weeks, there's been a worsening of drought severity. We're seeing more of the region being classified as drought conditions, and even a few pockets of extreme drought conditions."

EDIT

The state already has lost 90% of its corn crop and expects to lose about 75% of the cotton crop, says Alabama Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks. "We've got to have some help," he says, referring to a $6.5 billion drought disaster assistance bill that Congress is considering for farmers and ranchers. Agriculture in Alabama is a $5.5 billion industry, accounting for 467,000 jobs, 21% of the state's workforce. "This is serious business for us," Sparks says. "It's our No. 1 industry. It's in all 67 counties, and all 67 counties have been declared disaster areas."

In this part of northeast Alabama, rainfall has been significantly below normal since October. Some towns have reported rainfall totals almost 50% below normal. Those totals have spelled bad news for farmers here, says David Derrick, agronomy agent for northeast Alabama for the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service. "You expect a drought every three, four or five years," he says. "But you hardly ever have a drought where all the crops are affected. Almost everything is just a bust this year."

EDIT

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-09-14-drought_x.htm

[Breeze54]

1. This can't be good for anybody....

That's a shame. Those poor farmers. :-(


Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., calls on President Bush and House
leaders to approve disaster relief for family farmers and ranchers
at a press conference Tuesday near the U.S. Capitol.

[Kurovski]

2. Another disaster.

Congress will most likely move on it.

[hatrack]

3. No, they killed additional drought spending - at least for now

nt

[Kurovski]

4. Then perhaps it's time to call our Congress-critters.

Bend some ears.

[OneBlueSky]

5. and then there's the crop losses due to Katrina . . . n/t

.

[jackster]

6. while I hate this news for everyone

as everyone will feel the pinch

when will Falwell point out that God is punishing the bible belt?

[Kurovski]

7. Kick.(nt)

[YankeyMCC]

8. k & r

[gulfcoastliberal]

9. K&R - Mississippi river becoming un-navigable due to low water..

Amazing how the media ignores this ongoing disaster...

[girl gone mad]

12. Also, the drought in NM..

has been ignored.

There's no water in NM to begin with, add in low rainfall and you're looking at a big problem.

[NMDemDist2]

14. maybe where you are but we've had almost two months of daily

rain here in the SE of NM

our lakes are filling back up in spite of the low run off and the farmers are getting additional water. floods in Hatch have almost wiped out the pepper crops though :cry:

[RedEarth]

10. The central part of the country has been in drought conditions for several

years........I just can't imagine global warming would have a thing to do with this, can you.

[SoCalDem]

11. Why does God hate Alabama?

:evilgrin:

[femrap]

13. And South Dakota? nt

[Dogmudgeon]

15. The Incredible FREE MARKET will fix it!

:sarcasm:

--p!

[HereSince1628]

16. Unfortunately they probably do see opportunitie$

Not long ago someone was looking for investors to run a pipeline from Lake Michigan to Nebraska.
And I remember someone wanting to run a Great Slave Lake to Nevada pipeline back in the 70's.