Digging Out After Harvey

Hurricane Harvey’s toll on the southeastern Texas cotton crop is still being tallied. An expert with Texas A&M says up to 400,000 bales of cotton were still on the stalk. That could force farmers to go through the time-consuming process of trying to harvest what’s salvageable, but knowing their crop’s value will be significantly reduced due to quality losses in both the lint and seed.In other words, a far cry from reaping the rewards of a crop that was predicted to set records and be a money maker for farmers who have faced years of poor yields and low, stagnant prices.The storm completely destroyed the gin where Richard Niemann, a farmer near Corpus Christi, has his cotton processed. So, he is sending the cotton that survived to another gin.But Niemann will be last in line there, meaning a delayed payment for his cotton, which might not be processed until December.Crop insurance adjusters are on their way to take a look at his losses and the losses on farms all across southeastern Texas.