It’s that weather—again!

It’s been the mantra of farmers for time immemorial. “Make hay while the sun shines.” The sun has shone less often on South Carolina crops this summer. Welcomed as rain was after years of drought, it can be too much of a good. Walhalla got a one and three-quarter inch drenching from yesterday’s late afternoon storm that toppled at least four trees, including a large tree behind Dickie’s House of Flowers on E. Main Street. “All of our major crops are behind schedule,” said Scott Monfort, the state agronomy team leader for the Clemson University Extension Service. Rainfall totals so far this year are as much as twice normal, according to the State Climatology Office. However, recent breaks in the clouds have brought some relief — and even a little optimism — to farmers of major crops such as peanuts, soybeans, corn and cotton. As with the weather, farmers are vexed by the vagaries of prices.