The impact on agriculture of Hurricane Florence – which is moving toward the Carolinas – could be reminiscent of Hurricane Floyd of 1999. USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey, “When we saw more than 20 inches of rain causing extensive mortality of hogs and pigs.”
North Carolina is the second leading state for hog production and most operations are in the low-lying eastern half of the state, “We have about one-eighth of the U.S. hog and pig production area in the path of the storm.”
Growers have no viable choice but to leave their unripe soybeans, cotton and peanuts in the ground, “To be left out there at the mercy of the storm, highly susceptible to the winds and the potential flooding.”
North Carolina corn farmers are scrambling to harvest what corn they can.
Continue reading Ag at risk from Hurricane Florence at Brownfield Ag News.