High winds and heavy rains from Hurricane Helene destroyed one-fifth of the cotton crop in Georgia, the second-largest cotton state in the nation, said the USDA’s monthly Crop Production report. The USDA estimated that growers would harvest 1.65 million bales of cotton weighing 480 pounds each, down by 400,000 bales from a pre-hurricane estimate.
A preliminary damage report by the University of Georgia pegged the cotton losses at 500,000-600,000 bales worth $207-$220 million. State officials said hurricane’s impact on Georgia agriculture was $6.46 billion, with the heaviest losses in timber, pecans, and horticulture.
The USDA lowered its estimate of the U.S. cotton crop to 14.2 million bales, down by 2 percent from a month ago due to hurricane damage. “Georgia and North Carolina accounted for much of the reduction as high winds and heavy rain pummeled open bolls, while some other states experienced partially offsetting gains,” said the monthly WASDE report. The hurricane hit the states during harvest time.
North Carolina’s cotton crop was estimated at 700,000 bales, down 7 percent from last month due to the hurricane.
This year’s corn crop, estimated at 15.203 billion bushels, is marginally larger than forecast last month and would be the second-largest on record, said the USDA. The soybean crop, at 4.582 billion bushels, would be the largest ever. The corn, soybean, and wheat stockpiles were forecast to grow in size this year.