Georgia Vidalia Onion growers are ready for Mother Nature to turn off the tap. Record rainfall has dampened their crop, prevented them from getting into fields to take care of it and put it behind in development, says a University of Georgia onion expert.
Record rainfall swamped Georgia over the past three months and continues to keep things soggy in southeast Georgia, where farmers typically plant each year an estimated 12,000 acres of Georgias official vegetable.
Right now, Id say the condition of the crop is fair, said Reid Torrance, UGA Cooperative Extension coordinator in Tattnall County and onion expert. Its the wettest Ive ever seen. Weve had record rainfall three to four times normal which has put everyone behind. We just cant get in the fields. Basically, were trying to play catch up at this point.
Farmers start transplanting onions into fields in November. Conditions were drier then. Onions planted that month had a good head start on the weather, he said. Then the sky opened, dropping 12 inches of rain in December around Tattnall and Toombs counties, where the majority of the crop is planted. Over the past 8 weeks, the region has received close to 20 inches of rain.
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