Georgia Pecan Growers Hit Hard by Hurricane Michael

Posted by Christina Herrick|November 6, 2018

In an update from the Georgia Department of Agriculture, destruction from Hurricane Michael, Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary W. Black said pecan farmers took an estimated $560 million loss.

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Hurricane Michael dealt a serious blow to Georgia's pecan crop.
Photo courtesy of the Georgia Department of Agriculture
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Georgia pecan growers are looking at an estimated $560 million loss thanks to Hurricane Michael.
Photo courtesy of the Georgia Department of Agriculture
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This is the third year in a row that Georgia pecans have taken a hit from a major hurricane. Photo courtesy of the Georgia Department of Agriculture
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The damages from Hurricane Michael will have a generational impact since it takes about seven years for a tree to begin producing marketable pecans.
Photo courtesy of the Georgia Department of Agriculture
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All told, agriculture losses in Georgia could top $3 billion from Hurricane Michael.
Photo courtesy of the Georgia Department of Agriculture

Growers say it is a generational loss.

The Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA) has pulled together stories of farmers who suffered losses at the hands of the devastating storm including Casey Cox, a sixth-generation pecan grower at Longleaf Ridge, in Camilla, GA.

“These trees were planted in 1910 by my great-grandfather Cader Cox. These pecans are just such a generational loss,” she told the GDA. “This is the part that’s really sickening, these pecans everywhere on the ground. These were almost ready to harvest and now they’re just all over the place. For a lot of the farmers, they have insurance on the crop, but not on the trees themselves.”

Cox also grows sweet corn, peanuts, and timber.