Farmer says 15-20 inches rainfall in last couple of weeks could set spring crop back

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    MOBILE, Alabama (WALA) — Across the Gulf Coast farmers can’t seem to catch a break as back to back storms take their toll on the soil that many have spent months preparing for their spring crop.

“Over the past couple of weeks it’s just been cloudy and nasty,” said Jeremy Sessions, whose family runs Sessions Farm in Grand Bay.

Relentless rain and wind hitting South Alabama almost as soon as those spring crops hit the soil.

“Rough on the plants, it’s been beating them up.”

At Sessions Farm, tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelon and cantaloupe are now plotted in pools of water.

Sessions tells FOX10’s Marella Porter that it’s been years since they’ve run into so much rain so early on in the season.

He says one inch or a little more a week is typical, but at this point they’ve already seen between 15 and 20 inches of rain.

If Mother Nature doesn’t let up soon, Sessions says they may have to start from the ground up again, which could set them back anywhere from a week to 10 days.

“Just because of the two weeks worth of bad weather and rainy conditions, you know, and we depend on being early so we can capture the early market and get better prices for our product,” he said.

For now, all he can do is hold out hope that things will shape up.

“Mother nature has a way of correcting itself, so if we get some pretty weather in here I think we’re gonna be in line for a good quality product.”

If farmers can’t make up for lost ground, Sessions says it’s possible the price of produce could be affected come summer.

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