LIMESTONE COUNTY, AL (WAFF) -
From drought conditions to Tropical Storm Lee, cotton farmers have endured extreme weather this growing season.
Farmers said their cotton yield is down, but they have managed to avoid catastrophe.
Limestone County farmer Brad Zerbil owns the Brownsferry Cotton Farm.
He said he has one good field that could pull in 800 pounds of cotton an acre. The rest of his cotton fields aren't doing nearly as well. He said in those he may get about half of his 1,000 pounds-per-acre high back in 1994.
The main reason, he said, is all that bone-dry, scorching hot weather Alabama had this summer.
Anything planted early stayed thirsty when the top crop bloomed, a crucial time. But, the farmer said, his good field is doing well because he planted it later.
"It got dry on it that one time. And it rained the first part of August. But most of my cotton had done shed the top crop out of it by then. But this right here was planted a little later and the rain hit it right," he said.
Zerbil said he skipped planting cotton in 2009 and 2010, but he got back into it because the market price rose.
The price for Alabama cotton hit an all-time high after Tropical Storm Lee passed through because of potential crop damage.
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