Supply Chain, Weather Issues Hamper Harvest By Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News eather delays — a cool spring and W wet fall — and supply chain issues, especially on equipment parts, slowed
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NEIGHBORS
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February 2022
Farmers, including Lauderdale County producer Colt Clemmons, are dealing with supply chain issues and skyrocketing input prices.
Dan Busey, TimesDaily
harvest across the state last year. In a normal year, Talladega County farmer Bob Luker would have finished harvesting his cotton by the last day of November. In 2021, he was just getting started on his 800 acres. The national supply chain and inflation issues are hitting home in Alabama. Instead of being able to order parts for quick delivery, farmers are having to wait weeks or spend valuable time traveling to get a needed piece. “The thing about it isn’t the drive or the expense, it’s the time lost,” Luker said during a phone interview from the cab of his cotton picker. “We only have so many pretty days. You can’t pick cotton in the rain, you can’t pick cotton when it’s wet, you can’t pick it in the mud. And you only have so many days to get this crop out, and each day you sit waiting on parts or hunting parts is a day of harvest you lose.”
alfafarmers.org
