Governor, ag commissioner check on farmers after rain devastates crops

ELIZABETHTOWN, NC (WWAY) — Gov. Pat McCrory and other state officials visited our area today to see what the rain over the past two weeks has done to crops.

Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler toured the area and met with farmers as the agriculture in our state is a great concern. He says peanuts, cotton, and sweet potatoes have taken the biggest hit.

Farmers from across the area voiced their concerns this afternoon in Elizabethtown

“We’ve been underwater, and I was wondering if there is any help for us out there,” one farmer asked.

Gov. McCrory says there are three things that are disastrous to agriculture, which are a cool wet spring, a hot dry summer and rainy fall; all of which farmer Dan Ward has been faced with.

“We do our best every day,” Ward said. “We do our best. You hope and pray for the best. You go to church every Sunday, and if you are fortunate enough to get a good crop, you’re very proud of it.”

He says it’s time to try to move forward as much as possible. He says he’s lost two weeks of the season and has only three left to finish.

“The first step with these is to lift them up let them dry out,” Ward said. “The peanut bushes dry out, as well as the dirt to dry out and aerate it just a little so we can get the harvest equipment in here.”

McCrory says this is a learning process and hopes to use the information received to make a better system for the future.

Farmers say the next few days are critical in terms of salvaging as much of the crops as possible.

Ward says it’s likely he will only able to keep around 20 percent of the peanut crop that he planted this year. He says that some farmers in the region had a complete loss.