Local Farmers Hope For More Rain
By: Danielle Todesco
Updated: April 13, 2009
The recent rain is just the beginning of what local farmers hope is a wet season.
Doug Hlavaty says after last fall's floods, the ground still has deep moisture. But after Saturday night, they still ideally need about two more inches of rain before planting begins next month. Now, farmers just have to watch costs because cotton demand is down in this recession.
"The main thing we do is try to watch our costs real closely. We try not to put maybe as much in this crop. We don't go for that big crop, we just try to plan for an average crop and get by as cheap as we can and that's what we'll try this year."
Hlavaty says this year they'll plant sunflowers in part of their usual cotton fields because the demand for sunflower oil is rapidly increasing.
