By Clint Thompson
The lingering drought is affecting some areas worse than others.
It is especially dire in North Alabama where extreme dry conditions start as far south as Hale and Bibb counties stretch northward. Parts of Colbert, Lauderdale, Madison, Jackson and Dekalb are experiencing an exceptional drought.
Eric Schavey, regional Extension agent in Northeast Alabama, discussed the impact the prolonged dry conditions are having on labor.
“We’re really dry. When it becomes dry, you’re talking about that ground, and it gets real hard. We’re heavy clay soil in a lot of places. We’re getting plastic up, and when there’s not a lot of moisture on that ground where your row covers and everything covered up on the sides, it’s harder to pull that plastic,” Schavey said. “That’s one of those deals where we’re running to a little problem with plastic removal from late crops. But that’s the nature of the beast sometimes.
“Pulling stakes has been one of the hardest things. Some of the guys are having to push irrigation on some of the areas they’ve turned it off because the plants were done. They were going through trying to pull stakes and the ground was so hard, pulling stakes was taking longer. They were having to go hook irrigation back up to some of those areas and push water into those beds just to have enough moisture to pull the stakes up.”