Dr. Dale Monks, a crop physiologist with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, says whether farmers are glad to see rain at this time of year depends on what crop they are growing and what stage of the growing cycle the crop is in.

"Cotton farmers who have already sprayed their fields with defoliants do not want rainfall on their crop," says Monks. "Rain can knock seed cotton out of the bolls, and it can also reduce the quality of the lint."

Defoliants remove leaves from the cotton plants, and this helps reduce the amount of trash taken in by the cotton picker.

For those growers who have not defoliated their crop, boll rot and hard-locked bolls can be a problem.

"We've already got boll rot in some southern counties, and additional rain could make the problem worse," says Monks.

Rain is a mixed blessing these days in the Wiregrass says Dallas Hartzog, an Extension peanut agronomist.

"For those farmers who have peanuts dug and waiting to be combined, rain is really the last thing they want," says Hartzog.

The damage to the crop depends on the storm's severity. Brief storms with light winds and rain that move through an area quickly will not cause too many problems. Storm fronts that batter an area with heavy wind and rains are the type that can cause significant crop damage.

He says rain will degrade the quality of the peanuts. It will also increase field losses because of stem rot and mud on the nuts. The nuts drop off the plants before the combine can harvest the plants.

But he adds that for those farmers who planted later, the rain is beneficial.

"Rain now will help mature late peanuts and may improve those producers' yields."

In contrast, the state's forage producers generally welcome the rains of late summer and early fall.

Dr. Don Ball, a forage agronomist with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, says rain is vital at this time of year for producers who are planting forage crops in the fall.

"Rain is critical to those producers who are planting cool-season forage crops," says Ball. "Producers cannot get new fields up to a stand without good soil moisture at planting and adequate rainfall after germination."

He adds that rain is critical to already-established cool-season perennial grasses such as fescue.

"Like warm-season grasses, these cool-season forages need regular rainfall to grow and remain healthy," says Ball.

Ball, like his colleagues, acknowledges that heavy rains often associated with tropical storms can be a problem.

"Heavy rains can cause erosion on recently cultivated fields," says Ball. "If producers could special order the type of rain they would like, most would choose soft, steady rain showers where the moisture has an opportunity to soak into the soil."

(Dr. Dale Monks, Extension crop physiologist; Dallas Hartzog, Extension Agronomist; Dr. Don Ball, Extension Agronomist.)

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