Fresh Take Florida
Jeff Pittman, a peanut and cotton farmer based in Jackson County west of Tallahassee, said Hurricane Helene’s impending hit to the county has interrupted the beginning of his harvest.
“This is really bad timing for us, and the majority of my community and area. We’re on a real specific harvest schedule when peanuts or cotton is concerned,” Pittman said. “Now, this rain event is going to keep us out another four days, at least, probably more like six days.”
Pittman said rain and flooding with hurricanes like Helene deteriorates the health of plants and makes them undesirable to harvest, which could make it hard for farmers like Pittman to survive financially.
“It’s just not a good time for a typical row crop farm to be profitable. It’s just about impossible to be profitable right now, especially when you have these types of weather events,” Pittman said.
___
This story was produced by Fresh Take Florida, a news service of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. The reporter can be reached at landerson2l@freshtakeflorida.
