Farmers live and die by the weather and other variables. Most storms and hurricanes don’t end up causing a significant amount of damage to crops but pair a storm with several weeks of excessive rain, and the result could be detrimental a farmer’s bottom line.

Area farmers are picking up the pieces from just a scenario, caused by excessive rain and flooding that occurred from Sept. 22-Oct. 4. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced its decision to designate 19 counties in North Carolina as primary natural disaster areas due to damages and losses, and two of the counties were named as Beaufort and Hyde. Also named were surrounding counties Pitt, Craven and Martin, according to a USDA press release.

According to Rod Gurganus, director of the Beaufort County Cooperative Extension, while there was a good amount of flooding in Beaufort County, Hyde County was impacted even more due to its low-lying terrain. For two and a half weeks, eastern North Carolina was hammered with rain, and for the most part, it just stayed wet, Gurganus said.

“Generally speaking, all of eastern North Carolina had too much rain over that period,” Gurganus said. “Water got pushed in around Sladesville, Swan Quarter, Engelhard and in low-lying areas where water was able to push up across roads and in fields. Everyone got damage on their crops from that (period) of rain.”

Several crops were affected, according to Gurganus. In some cases, area soybean crops were mature and almost ready to pick prior to the period of rain. But excess caused the soybean seeds to sprout on the plant or become diseased, something that Gurganus says has caused many farmers to lose a good portion of their harvests.

Cotton is an even worse issue, Gurganus said. Similar to soybeans, cotton crops were affected by the seeds sprouting on the plant, ruining the seed quality. And while soybeans overall took a 30 percent hit on average, depending on location, a 40-percent average of cotton crops were lost. A thousand acres of snap beans were also lost, and in western counties like Bertie, Martin and Pitt, the peanut crop, as well as sweet potatoes, were affected. Cumulatively, Gurganus

“In our area that is pretty much the case,” Gurganus said. “We had some (crops) planted a little later and weren’t as mature, and they’re going to come out all right,” Gurganus said. “But (the rain, lost crops) reduced yield, which is a reduction economically. It’s a huge hit, so it’s going to impact the bottom line.”

According to Natalie Wayne, Hyde County Cooperative Extension director, Hyde County, which can boast revenue in the $80-90 million range, is looking at an $8-13 million loss.

“What hurt the worst was the full season of soybeans, and you’re talking about 16,000 acres in Hyde County, so it was a pretty big hit for all farmers, especially coming off from last year with the Fourth of July tropical storm,” Wayne said. “A lot of farmers lost their corn crop. You go from last year to this year, it hurts.”

With agriculture being North Carolina’s primary economic driving force, the losses will impact the state’s bottom line, just like it has for farmers, Gurganus said. However, farmers may be able to weather the storm, so to speak. The USDA’s announcement of naming affected counties as natural disaster areas makes all qualified farm operators in the areas eligible for low-interest emergency loans (EM) from USDA’s Farm Service Agency, provided eligibility requirements are met, the release said.

Farmers in eligible counties have eight months from the date of the declaration to apply for loans to help cover part of their actual losses. FSA will consider each loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability. FSA has a variety of programs, in addition to the EM loan program, to help eligible farmers recover from adversity.

“We normally don’t have (EM loans),” said Leigh Anna Hester, executive director of Beaufort/Hyde FSA. “Because we were declared a disaster area, that’s going to be opened up for producers so they can take advantage of it.”

Hyde County farmer Wade Hubers, who suffered a 60 percent loss in his soybean crop, doesn’t plan on taking advantage of the EM loan program.

“(My soybeans) were hurt very badly,” Hubers said. “I plan to take it and move on just like you generally do in agriculture. Farming is about taking the ups and downs and moving on.”

For more information about the EM loan and other assistance programs, visit http://disaster.fsa.usda.gov.