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The lack of rain and high temperatures aren’t just putting Appling County — and most of Georgia — at risk for wildfires, they’re hurting agriculture, too.

Appling County farmers didn’t need the U.S. Drought Monitor to tell them we’re in a moderate drought here. All they had to do was look at their fields.

“Since the first of September, we’ve had just .3 inches of rain here,” Appling County Agent Shane Curry told The News-Banner this week. “A year ago, we had five-and-a-half inches during that same time period. That’s the lowest amount of precipitation during this time period we’ve had since 2008.”

Curry is especially concerned because crops — such as cotton, peanuts and pecans — are at a “critical stage” in their development right now as they mature and the lack of rain, and high temperatures are having an effect. Farmers that planted early and are harvesting now or have already harvested should fare better than those that got a later start.

“Usually, we like to see dry conditions at harvest time,” he said. “You can’t harvest when it’s raining. But, you’ve got to have a crop to harvest and the high temps and lack of rain are affecting that.”

For the farmers who are harvesting peanuts now, hard soil conditions can cause problems when the stems of dry plants break off, leaving peanuts in the ground. Curry said conditions are also slowing down harvesting.

“These are certainly rough conditions right now,” the county agent said. “When you see oak trees showing signs of stress, it’s not good.”

Right now, Curry is reluctant to make any predictions on crop yields for the county. He said the impact could be...



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It was time to place the recycle bin at the curb Tuesday evening of last week in preparation of the bi-weekly pick-up the following day. When moving the receptacle out to the street, someone was noticed approaching from about half the distance up the block. By the time the large container was wheeled into position where the mechanical arm on the truck could collect the debris, the person had gotten to within twenty yards of where I stood.

Much to my surprise, it turned out to be a young lady (Teresa for the sake of reference) whom I’d not seen for several months. Even more surprising was the fact that she looked to be less than half the size of her former self.

Mrs. Teresa is a neighbor who happens to live on the street directly to the south of me. Ironically, we’d met under the same circumstances nearly a year and-a-half ago as she was just beginning her exercise regimen. I’d greeted her that morning which prompted a brief conversation about, peculiarly enough, spiritual enlightenment.

That ultimately resulted with us periodically encountering one another at the curb sometimes once or twice a week when I happened to be outside during the early mornings. Upon my first meeting her, Ms. Teresa weighed in the neighborhood of four hundred and...

To continue reading this article subscribe to The Baxley News-Banner by calling 912-367-2468 or by following this link http://www.baxleynewsbanner.com/pages/online_edition.html