We are now in the climatological peak of the Atlantic hurricane season. Tropical Storm Ophelia is the latest storm to leave a mark on agriculture.
USDA Meteorologist Brad Rippey explains.
“Other crops in the path of the storm: peanuts, soybeans being the major row crops. Just looking at some of the fields seeing some reports and observations, and just looking around here in the mid-Atlantic, it does look like some minor lodging of some of the crops including corn and soybeans but nothing that might just cause a brief interference with harvest activities. No real damage is expected to those crops. Then the good news from a drought standpoint is that we did see some fairly dry conditions in the path of the storm prior to its arrival, and that did prevent flooding and also allowed a lot of that moisture to seep into the ground. So from a peanut perspective, shouldn’t be any major lasting impacts as well as there was a limited amount of standing water. We don’t have to worry too much about the quality of the crop there. Getting into the drought aspect, good for replenishing soil moisture in advance of winter wheat planting, good for reviving pastures in drought-affected areas, so not all the impacts from Ophelia were negative.”
