T. J. ROYAL
Now that Edgecombe County's out of the drought conditions that plagued it over the last two years, Extension Director Art Bradley said so far, the county's "crops look decent."
But Bradley and Conetoe farmer Wayne Harrell were quick to add Edgecombe could use “a decent shower" across its area.
Bradley said several of Edgecombe's crops are "entering a critical period right now," namely corn because its stalks are beginning to tassel, the beginning of its pollination and kernel growth.
While the 1,500 acres of corn he tends for Harrell & Owens Farms is looking good, Harrell added "we've still got three weeks to go" before the critical period for tasseling is over.
Harrell's and Bradley's concern over rain and high temperatures are backed up by the latest U.S. Drought Monitor reading. Even with the heavy storms that have blanketed the area over the last two months, the Monitor lists several Eastern North Carolina counties, including Edgecombe, as being abnormally dry. It's still a marked improvement over the same period in 2007 and 2008, when Edgecombe and most of North Carolina experienced stages of severe to extreme drought.
While the 550 acres of tobacco Harrell & Owens planted this year is going to be the moneymaker, around 45 percent of his family operation's gross income, Harrell added that "it would be nice if we had a good corn crop."
The drought severely affected the farm's corn crop last year, but Harrell said that it was a solid year for the peanut, tobacco and wheat crops in 2008. He had a decent year with cotton too, but a poor year with soybeans.
"If you can get three out of five, you're doing OK," he added.
Bradley warned that, although the county's crops have looked good so far, the rainy weather has been less than ideal for keeping tobacco plants growing. A water-borne tobacco disease which hasn't been seen much in the past two years, called target spot, has crept into some of the crop this year, he said.
While it doesn't completely ruin the tobacco leaves, starting on the low part of the stalk and working its way up, Bradley said it "can do damage" to much of the plant.
Harrell said that he hasn't had to deal with target spot in "any significant" way so far this year. What affected Harrell more, he said, was the vast overproduction of peanuts across the state last year, which helped drop prices around 30 percent for this year.
But it's not just his farm's crops Harrell says he's dealing with this year, though. One of the major things Harrell said he is looking into receiving federal grant money for the farm operation's three-mile-plus water pump system.
The device, which pumps water from the Tar River south of the N.C. 42 and N.C. 33 intersection to just south of Conetoe, was built in the early '90s. Harrell said he is seeking funding that'll help it run off electricity and alternate fuels, instead of depending on a diesel tanker for operation.
Last year during the gas spike, Harrell said his monthly diesel bill ran up to $35,000 once, compared to normally running around $10,000 a month to operate the water pump.
And, Harrell added, if Gov. Beverly Perdue's $1-per-pack tax increase on cigarettes makes it through the budget process this year, "I don't think the industry can stand it."
The federal increase on cigarettes, from 39 cents per pack up to $1.01, has already affected his orders for his tobacco crop this year, Harrell said. As a farmer, he said the crop is "vital" to his company's income, adding that the federal government has "got to give us something for staying out here and doing the work."
