Cotton crops in parts of Alabama were destroyed by hail on Thursday, however one Cherokee County farmer says faith will help local farmers move forward undeterred.
ABC 33/40 reported that “golf ball sized hail” devastated some cotton crops in the northeast portion of the Yellowhammer State, and the totality of the damage is still being assessed. Insurance adjusters will reportedly be out surveying the damage on Monday.
Nick McMichen, an active member of the Alabama Farmers Federation, is a sixth generation farmer in Cherokee County. He told ABC 33/40 that he had never seen this kind of extensive hail in his community before Thursday.
While McMichen also has more assessment to do, he said that 250 acres of his cotton crop were a complete loss. Apparently significant damage to an additional thousand acres will be evaluated further, but he is estimating $250,000 in losses at the moment.
The loss came exactly a week ahead of July 4, which normally marks the half way point for the cotton crop, as harvest occurs in October and November.
This type of uncontrollable loss, for farmers, is just part of the hard work of providing for America — and the world.
“It’s farming, anything can happen. We prepare for the worst,” McMichen remarked.
He explained that other farmers in the area are facing the same cotton losses. However, they all are aware that it is part of the business, and the lifestyle, that they selflessly dedicated themselves to.
“The farmer is the eternal optimist,” McMichen emphasized. “We take an event like this and know God will provide for us. We won’t let this get us down.”
One option for northeast Alabama farmers is to plant soybeans to replace the lost cotton crop in an attempt to recoup some of their financial losses.
The McMichen family made headlines in recent years for breaking the state soybean yield record. He has also won honors from regional and national trade groups, including being recognized with the 2018 Farm Press/Cotton Foundation High Cotton Award for the Southeast states.
Watch ABC 33/40’s report here or below:
Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
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