Recent Sunny and Dry Days are Helping Cotton and other Crops Mature

By Pam Knox

After a very dry June followed by a rainy and cloudy July and August producers are happy to see sunny skies and no rain to help prepare their crops for harvest. Cotton and other crops have been hampered by the lack of sunshine which has delayed crop development and the wet, humid conditions have caused many problems with boll rot and other fungal diseases on crops this summer. According to Steve Brown with Alabama Extension, farmers are waiting to see how much the weather now will improve their crop numbers before harvest. We should see another week of mostly dry conditions with lower humidity and temperatures once the cold front passes through the region on Thursday or Friday before we have to start worrying about a potential tropical storm that may affect somewhere in the Southeast (or if not here, somewhere else).