LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Farmers struggling, need your prayers

Published 4:51 pm Friday, August 23, 2019

Those of us in Agriculture greatly appreciate all the prayers for rain recently. I think most everyone in the area has received a goodly amount in the past couple of weeks. Now, it is time to change gears and pray for abundant sunshine.

The cotton bolls are trying to open and this takes some open weather or they will rot or hardlock and ruin. Also, peanuts will need to be dug before long and we will need the ground not to be boggy.

Some of y’all know this, many of you do not, but our farmers are going through the worst periods of time in a generation. We lost 25% of the 2017 cotton crop to hurricane Irma, and last year lost 50% of the crop to hurricane Michael. On top of that, the trade war with China has had a devastating effect on prices. The current market for cotton and peanuts is well below the cost of production.

Please pray that this trade war will end soon. It is affecting a lot more people than just farmers.

Mark Murphy

Moultrie