Tropical Storm Fay brought much needed rainfall to Georgia in late August, but it caused $159 million in damage to crops in 31 south Georgia counties, according to a University of Georgia economic impact study.
Colquitt, Mitchell and Brooks counties in southwest Georgia were the hardest hit by the storm.
Conducted by the UGA Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development, the study evaluated the damage five weeks after the storm and the resulting economic impact it had in the area, said Archie Flanders, an economist with the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
“We released a production value loss report a few days after the storm, but it’s difficult to determine the full extent of damage for many crops immediately after a weather event,” Flanders said. “Harvesting of some crops had begun at the time of the storm, but other crops were weeks away from harvest.”
Crop conditions can improve after a storm, but the potential for disease pressure is also a lingering concern, he said.
The storm caused $54 million in damage to vegetable crops, or 70 percent of the expected value, Flanders said. Ninety-eight percent of the vegetable losses occurred in Colquitt County alone.
A quarter of the cotton crop in the affected counties was lost, totaling $62 million in damage.
Pecans had the third greatest loss from the storm with 29 percent of the expected production value lost, or $21.1 million, Flanders said.
Peanut suffered $10 million in damage, or eight percent of the expected value. The storm knocked almost $5 million off the value of tobacco in the area and $1 million off the soybeans.
“Economic changes in agriculture reach other sectors of the state economy," he said.
Though the storm cost farmers $159 million in potential income, the lack of that money has a ripple effect, costing the economy another $108 million in potential revenue. Fay’s blow cost Georgia a total of $267 million.
By Sharon Dowdy
University of Georgia
Sharon Dowdy is a news editor with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
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Friday, October 31, 2008
Fay Damages Crops in 31 Georgia Counties
Friday, August 22, 2008
Georgia Power Seeks Approval for Coal Plant Conversion to Biomass
PRNewswire/ -- Georgia Power today asked the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) for approval to convert coal-fueled Plant Mitchell to renewable wood biomass.
Upon conversion, Plant Mitchell - near Albany - would be capable of producing 96 megawatts of renewable energy - or enough electricity to power 60,000 homes. The plant would have lower emissions, and would be one of the largest wood biomass plants in the United States. It would also have lower fuel and operating costs when compared to continued operation using coal, thereby making the plant more cost-effective for customers.
Surplus wood fuel for Plant Mitchell would come from suppliers operating within an approximately 100-mile radius of the plant.
"Georgia Power is taking an important step toward continued diversification of its fuel sources and making renewable energy more affordable for customers," said Mike Garrett, Georgia Power president and CEO. "By converting Plant Mitchell to biomass, we hope to not only help grow the renewable resource base in Georgia but also to expand the market for renewable energy credits, which ultimately will foster additional renewable energy development."
Renewable energy credits are created when a renewable energy facility generates electricity or uses renewable fuel. The PSC is expected to rule on the proposal to convert Plant Mitchell to biomass by spring of 2009. Retrofit construction would begin by spring of 2011 and the biomass plant would likely begin operations in June 2012.
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