By Clint Thompson
Alabama’s specialty crops sector will be impacted by Hurricane Isaias when it moves through the state this weekend. A pair of specific industries are especially at risk from the major hurricane when it makes landfall late Friday night.
Alabama Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association Executive Director Blake Thaxton discussed those two agricultural sectors in an interview with AgNet Media.
“I’m sure I’ll leave one out, but the ones that have definitely crossed my mind are our guys that grow citrus on the Gulf Coast. They’ve got fruit on the tree and it’s kind of the first year that they’ve had a good crop since the freeze a few years ago,” Thaxton said. “And then also our pecan growers on the Gulf Coast. Those two are the ones that kind of have been on my mind and been in my prayers. But certainly all the rest of them and then our row croppers who we don’t do as much with the Alabama Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association, but we have a lot of row crops on the Gulf Coast as well. We’re keeping all of them in our prayers, but those are the ones that certainly fill a little higher stakes with crops hanging on the tree.”
Pecan harvests have begun across the region with the earliest varieties, like Pawnee. The impact of high winds and increased rainfall could devastate this year’s crop. Alabama’s citrus crop has struggled since the January snow event in 2025.