Damage, lost production to have big economic impact across the state Hurricane Matthew toppled thousands of mature pecan trees in South Georgia, while damaging cotton and peanut crops to a lesser degree, and farmers are working hard to assess damage from the storm and determine if they will be eligible for federal assistance. Damage varies from place to place, but, “I haven’t been by a single (pecan) orchard that doesn’t have some big trees down,” said Bill Tyson, Bulloch County extension agent. Some orchards might have only a few trees down and some might have 50 percent down, he said. Wade Plantation, in northern Screven County, lost 1,000 mature pecan trees, or about 75 acres worth of trees, according to property owner William S. “Billy” Morris III. Morris also owns Morris Publishing Group, which operates the Augusta, Sylvania and Savannah newspapers among others. He estimated damage from the storm will reduce pecan production this year by 25 percent to 30 percent. Extension agent Ray Hicks said commercial producers lost 2,000 pecan trees valued at $1 million in Screven County alone. That doesn’t include trees in small groups on farms or in people’s backyards. John Emory Pryor, who harvests pecans in Effingham, Chatham, Screven, Bulloch and Jenkins counties, said he lost 400 trees over 700 acres. Pryor also said the cotton crop took a hit. Cotton plants also were “blown down real bad,” he said. Pryor said he isn’t sure how much damage the peanut crops will suffer. The ground has to dry before the remaining peanuts can be harvested, and by then they may have begun sprouting or have fallen off the plant. “We just got our fingers crossed,” Pryor said. Overall the damage from the storm was not as bad as it could have been, but was worse than expected, said Julie McPeake, spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of Agriculture. “Our pecan growers were some of the hardest hit, with some losing one-third of their trees,” she said. “That is a monumental loss when you consider the investment each tree requires.” Pecan trees take 15 years to grow enough to produce a decent crop. She said cotton farmers had as much as 50 percent of their lint blown to the ground, and what is still standing will be downgraded for the quality because of the saturation and wind damage. Farmers also lost a few cattle that were hit by trees, she said. Morris said six pregnant cows were killed by falling trees on his property in South Carolina. McPeake said that federal assistance for farmers must go through Gov. Nathan Deal, who will have to ask for a disaster declaration from the Secretary of Agriculture. The money would come through the USDA. Hicks said some farmers do have private insurance that covers their crops and orchards. U.S. Rep. Rick Allen toured farms in Screven County last week along with Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Gary Black and Georgia Farm Bureau President Gerald Long. Allen urged farmers to keep detailed records for federal disaster applications. “Local pecan farmers … asked me, ‘How do you harvest with trees down all around the pecan trees?’ People are hurting.” Allen said. Some farmers are hiring workers to pick up pecans from the ground by hand. “It’s very expensive and there’s a labor shortage,” Long said. He said a wet spring followed by a dry summer and then a hurricane caused a lot of problems in one year’s time. “It’s been an extremely, extremely difficult year for farmers,” Long said. Source - http://savannahnow.com