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Agricultural commissioner says Alabama's crops are in trouble

MONTGOMERY, AL (WAFF) - Alabama Agricultural Commissioner Ron Sparks warns Friday that a recent assessment conducted across the state shows Alabama farmers are facing a potential crisis concerning the fall 2009 crop harvest.

Prior to September, Sparks said many farmers were expecting to harvest a "bumper" crop and were very optimistic for the upcoming harvest season. However, the large amounts of rain during September and October have degraded various crops and caused poor harvesting conditions, which caused the harvest to be behind schedule by around four to six weeks.

Sparks said the major crops impacted by the recent rainfall are cotton, soybeans, corn and peanuts. Reports indicate that Alabama farmers need a period of dry weather within the next two weeks to prevent a potential state disaster with the delayed harvest, Sparks said. 

Farmers are already suffering from heavy September and October rainfalls and dry conditions will not eliminate damage that has already taken place to crops across the state. Many have already experienced a sharp decrease in crop yield, lower grading and crop damage from recent rainfall.

On top of poor weather and harvesting conditions, Sparks said that falling demand for Alabama agricultural products due to the recent recession means formers will likely see decreased profits for the 2009 growing season. According to a recent USDA release, net farm income is forecast to be $54 billion in 2009, down 38 percent from the preliminary estimate of $87.2 billion for 2008.

The 2009 forecast is $9 billion below the average of $63.2 billion in net farm income earned in the previous 10 years.

Sparks also said that costs of necessities such as fuel and fertilizer have decreased as compared to the past two seasons. However, most all agriculture commodity market prices have dropped tremendously over the past 8 to 12 months, which may contribute to farm profit losses.

"The bottom line is that Alabama producers are uncertain as to what the commodity markets will bring forth and where agriculture in our state is going," Sparks said. "The recent weather conditions over the past two months will definitely have a negative impact on Alabama's crop harvest."

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