He adds that rain will reduce the quality of the lint due to weathering and keep Georgia farmers out of the field, further delaying a harvest already slowed by intermittent rain over the last two weeks.
Winds can literally blow the cotton right off the stalk.
Serious damage to the crop could occur if we get those strong winds. However, in fields with heavy disease pressure from white mold, leafspot or tomato spotted wilt, even a few extra days can mean already weakened vines will weaken more, and losses as peanut pods are pulled off the vine during harvest. We need a week, minimum, of clear days with low humidity just to get farmers back in the field at full steam to get this year's crop harvest well underway. As TS Helene weakens, National Hurricane Center meteorologists expect it to be a rain event, rather than rain combined with high winds. Without winds that could knock heavily loaded limbs off of trees, Helene could be very helpful to the Georgia pecan crop.