by North Carolina’s Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler from his August column “From the Tractor” for the department’s monthly newsletter the Agricultural Review:

I wanted to provide a drought update, although this information changes weekly.

As of press time, drought conditions continue to persist in the majority of the state, although recent rains have allowed 18 counties to move out of dry or drought conditions. To date, five counties are categorized as being in severe drought – Columbus, Davie, Forsyth, Stokes and Yadkin; 30 are experiencing moderate drought conditions and 47 are now listed as abnormally dry.

The recent rains have been welcomed by farmers across the state, providing some much-needed moisture for crops and helping recharge farm ponds.

I wish I could say crops are out of the woods, but crop conditions continue to remain a big concern despite some of them showing signs of improvement.

We still have a long way to go with this growing season and it is still too early to know the impact weather will have on yields until we get to harvest time.

We know conditions have been highly unfavorable for corn, plus other crops such as hay and pastures are also feeling stress from the current weather situation. I have heard numerous reports of farmers already feeding hay to their cattle.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service’s July 22 report shows 66% of the corn crop in our state being in poor to very poor condition, with an additional 19% in fair condition.

Soybeans, sweet potatoes, peanuts, tobacco and cotton have benefitted from the rains, and I hope the rainfall over the past few days will continue to provide a boost to crops.

Sweet potato growers are reporting 6% of crops are in poor condition, 33% in fair condition, 55% in good condition and 6% in excellent condition. Those numbers were slightly better than the week prior.

Peanut growers note 3% of crops are in very poor condition, 4% in poor condition, 32% fair, 54% good and 7% excellent.

Flue-cured tobacco posts 7% in very poor condition, 17% in poor condition, 38% in fair condition, 34% in good and 4% excellent.

This is a crucial time in the season for many of the crops to receive adequate water. We are thankful for the recent rains and remain prayerful for more rain as we continue through the production season.

In late July, USDAAgriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack declared a natural disaster for Columbus County based on losses caused by a drought– that’s an area that has seen significant corn losses.

The disaster declaration means Federal disaster assistance including Farm Service Agency emergency loans are available for eligible farmers in Columbus County, plus farmers in the contiguous counties of Bladen, Brunswick, Pender and Robeson.

We continue to encourage producers to report conditions to their local FSA office, take field photographs and to stay in touch with their insurance agents.

I will keep readers updated as the season progresses and if new counties are added to the federal disaster declaration.