Photo by Jennifer Whittaker September 13, 2023
www.gfb.org
Vol. 5 No. 17
HURRICANE IDALIA HITS SOUTHEAST GEORGIA FARMERS HARD By Jennifer Whittaker & Jay Stone Hurricane Idalia had a sweet name but left bitter bruises on Georgia farms and rural communities after sweeping across Southeast Georgia on Aug. 30. Idalia was a Category 2 storm when the storm eye blew across the Florida/Georgia line into Lowndes County about 10 a.m. According to the National Hurricane Center, Category 2 storms have sustained winds of 96-110 mph. By 11 a.m. Idalia was downgraded to a Category 1 storm (sustained winds of 74-95 mph) as she continued to whirl in a northeast direction toward South Carolina. By 5:30 p.m. Idalia was a Tropical Storm moving at 21 mph when she reached the South Carolina line according to published reports. Initial assessment reports released by the Georgia Department of Agriculture and UGA Extension detailed major agriculture damage in Brooks, Ben Hill, Berrien, Coffee, Cook, Crisp, Echols, Irwin, Lanier, Lowndes, Pierce, Thomas and Wilcox counties. Idalia uprooted pecan trees, blew over corn and cotton stalks, battered vegetable plants, and tossed tobacco leaves to the ground. She also damaged farm equipment, sheds and fences. Numerous farmers had to run generators to keep their dairy and swine barns, poultry houses, tobacco curing barns and wells operating for days until power was restored. Georgia Farm Bureau media spoke to multiple farmers across the storm’s path to get an idea of the impact Idalia had on Georgia agriculture. Pecan damage Georgia pecan growers were about a month away from starting to harvest early pecan varieties when Idalia hit. The trees were laden with still-maturing nuts and the heavy green hulls that hold the nuts until they mature, and the hulls crack, turn brown and drop to the ground with the unshelled pecans. For the pecan sector, initial assessments indicate Idalia did the most damage to orchards in Thomas, Brooks, Lowndes, Berrien, Cook, Irwin, Lanier, Ware and Pierce counties, according to UGA Extension Pecan Specialist Lenny Wells. Pecan orchards were also hit in counties extending -continued on next page