Drought, Baldwin
- When
- September 1, 12:00 AM EST to September 30, 11:59 PM EST
- Where
- Baldwin forecast zone
- Crop damage
- $344 million
- Reported by
- Other Federal Agency
- Coordinates
- 33.069, -83.250 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Drought conditions continued to worsen through the summer months across north and central Georgia. Many areas of the state were nearing historical drought conditions by the end of the summer. By the end of September, rainfall deficits of 15 to 20 inches across north and west Georgia were common, with many of these areas only having received 30 to 40 percent of normal rainfall. Many lakes were nearing all time record low levels and above ground water supplies were being significantly impacted in many of the larger cities, especially Atlanta.
By the end of the summer, crop losses for the state as a whole were estimated at $787.2 million. Approximately 44% or $344 million of this occurred within the Peachtree City, Georgia Weather Forecast Office (WFO) County Warning Area (CWA). Crop losses were greatest for hay and pasture, cotton, peanuts, and corn. The balance was a result of losses to the pecan, tobacco, fruit, and soybean crops. Total economic output impact of the drought for the state was estimated to be $1.3 billion. It is also interesting to note that there were over 14,000 agricultural jobs impacted by the drought conditions.
Here is the breakdown of the drought impact on the above listed crops by county within the Peachtree City Weather Forecast Office (WFO) county warning area (CWA).
Total average losses with the Peachtree City WFO CWA from the drought were estimated at $15M (million) per county for seven counties (Carroll, Crisp, Jackson, Oglethorpe, Sumter, Taylor, Wilcox, $7.5M per county for 16 counties, $2.5M per county for 54 counties, and $500K (thousand) for the remaining 19 counties.
These losses can further be broken down into loss categories of hay and pasture, cotton, peanut, and corn.
For hay and pasture losses, eight counties, Banks, Bartow, Carroll, Gordon, Jackson, Monroe, Oglethorpe, and Wilkes had the greatest losses in this category, each experiencing an average loss of $15.5M per county. Twelve counties experienced an average loss of $4.5M per county, 37 counties had $1.5M per county, and 39 counties had $500K per county.
For cotton losses, Sumter county experienced the greatest loss with an average of $8.5M. Two counties experienced an average loss of $4.5M, six counties had $1.5M, and the remaining 87 counties had $500K per county.
For peanut losses, three counties experienced an average loss of $1.5M per county with the remaining 93 having an average loss of $500K per county.
Finally, for corn losses, Jefferson county experienced the greatest loss with an average of $3M. Three counties had a loss of $1.5M per county, four had $750K per county, while the remaining 88 counties experienced average losses of $300K per county.