As for the future of crops in and around Escambia County, Farrior said those farmers who have peanuts and cotton may stand a chance of having a decent year. Farrior said farmers across Escambia County usually plant a combined total of 5,000 acres in corn. Acreage said the drought is not limited to farmers in south Alabama. Even though we did get some significant rainfall last week, it was just too late for corn crops. Farrior said lawns and crops are already stressed, and home farmers...

Moore, who also serves as a Dallas County commissioner, said some corn farmers are trying to cut their losses by cutting down their withered crops. Moore said most crop farmers have insured themselves under federal government programs for catastrophic events like the drought. They may sell the stalks for cattle feed, but Moore said a few could be replanting a very late cotton crop. In his experience, however, federal crop insurance will provide him with $125 an acre at best -- once he...

Poor West African farmers' incomes could increase by about 5 percent if the United States eliminated its cotton subsidies, according to a new report released today by Oxfam America, an international advocacy and development organization. Department of Agriculture, cotton subsidies totalled more than $4 billion in the 2005 fiscal year. this study shows how reform could help millions of poor people who are ready to lift themselves out of poverty through farming and fair trade, said Raymond...

He said rain had come just in time for farmers to plant a winter crop. In the high cattle country in Victoria, where at the start of this year torrid conditions drove the bushfires that razed more than a million hectares of forest, the rivers are filling. But, for now, just the feel and smell of damp soil after such a long dry spell is helping to instill faith that there's a future in farming. The views expressed in the articles are not necessarily those of earthtimes.org and we accept no...

And with total rainfall down almost 14 inches from the annual average, Parker, and the many other farmers who invested heavily in corn, are feeling the heat. Riggins said he won't have official statistics regarding the drought's effect on local corn crops until after harvests in July and August, but based on seeing the fields and talking with farmers, he said it doesn't look good. At this point, Riggins said it's most likely only those who planted their corn late, for whatever reason, who...

THE federal government's commodity forecaster expects the 2007/08 winter crop to jump by 21 million tonnes to 37 million tonnes due to improved weather conditions. ABARE's crop production forecasts assume a return to average crop yields. But in a note of caution it said continued dry conditions throughout Queensland and parts of Western Australia meant that winter crop prospects in those states are below average at this stage. ABARE said autumn rainfall across the majority of NSW, Victoria...