03/28/2024
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Woody Marlowe has farmed for about 50 years, working through hurricanes and drenching rains. The long time Bladen County farmer said he’s never seen anything like the damage caused by nearly two consecutive weeks of rain.

Friday afternoon, he showed N.C. Farm Service Agency Executive Director Bob Etheridge some of the damage in his sprawling peanut field off U.S. 701 between Elizabethtown and Clarkton.

NC FSA Executive Director Bob Etheridge, right, looks at damaged peanuts in the field of Woody Marlowe, left.
NC FSA Executive Director Bob Etheridge, right, looks at damaged peanuts in the field of Woody Marlowe, left.

“I’ve never seen anything like it, even with the hurricanes,” Marlowe said. “It’s because the rain lasted so long. If it had rained all this in two or three days and the sun came out, it would’ve probably been alright. But it lasted so long and the stuff just laid in the field and rotted.”

Portions of Bladen County received more than a foot of rain over a two-week period beginning in late September.

Etheridge met Friday with Marlowe, farmers Wilbur and Dan Ward, and Chris Tatum, the executive director of the Bladen County FSA office, about crop damage. Etheridge also looked at some damaged cotton brought to the meeting by Johnny Cox.

“As we’re talking with the folks who are growing peanuts, we’re finding out it’s much worse than they thought originally,” said Etheridge, a former U.S. congressman from Sampson County. “I was in Kenansville looking at cotton and farmers were telling me it was 100 percent bad cotton.

“Some of (the damage) will be covered by insurance, but insurance won’t get it all. These farmers are looking at low commodity prices that is tied with low production and now this disaster. There will be people who won’t make it next year unless we find a way to get some federal and state help.”

Etheridge said a request for federal assistance had been sent to Washington on Friday morning.

Johnny Cox, right, shows cotton damage to N.C. FSA Executive Director Bob Etheridge
Johnny Cox, right, shows cotton damage to N.C. FSA Executive Director Bob Etheridge

For farmers such as Marlowe, who don’t have crop insurance and could lose as much as $1 million in revenue from damage to his 800 acres of peanuts and 5,000 acres of cotton, it’s vital.

“It’s very important for us and all the other farmers to get the help,” Marlowe said. “It might be the difference for being around another year.

“You ride by and from the road (the peanuts) look OK. But you can’t get in the field to harvest and (the peanuts) are getting worse every day. If they have any damage in them, we can’t sell them for edible products.”

Tatum, the Bladen FSA director, said as much as 70 percent of both the peanut crop and the cotton crop has been damaged in the county. His office is still working on a dollar figure for the amount of damage.

“The two previous weeks before this rain, it was cloudy, muggy, high humidity, and moisture in the air,” Tatum said. “It hurt the cotton as much as anything, and the peanuts, because you couldn’t get out and dig them. But to have 12 inches of rain on top of it didn’t help either. A combination of all of it together.

“It’s as bad as I’ve seen in Bladen County since 1999 with Hurricane Floyd. It kind of all hit at a time when we were turning or digging.”

Etheridge also compared the damage he’s seen in a quick tour around the region over the past couple of days with Hurricane Floyd.

“In 1999, we had the floods from Floyd,” said Etheridge, who was in Congress at the time. “We were able to get some federal money for the disaster. (Gov.) Jim Hunt worked with the General Assembly and they matched the money for farmers, dollar for dollar. I think it’s time for that all over again.”

Etheridge encouraged farmers to report crop damage to the Bladen FSA office so an accurate accounting can take place. The Bladen County FSA office phone number is 862-3179, extension 2.

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