“Making that decision is made tougher because of the high fuel prices, because once you make a decision to plant, the farmer has to continue to make good management practices” including chemical applications, Shurley said. “Once you plant, you’re committed.”

Dryland corn in the county is already a disaster, with many farmers exploring chopping down the crop in order to have something to feed cattle, said county extension agent Don Clark. The corn would have to be tested for nitrates before it could be fed to cows.

Growers also would have to cut the corn high up the stalks because nitrates concentrate toward the bottom of the plant, thus losing some of the volume, he said.

“We’ve got some farmers considering coming in with a silage chopper,” Clark said as he examined a stunted corn plant. “There’s not much here, but they don’t have enough to feed their cattle. We’re at a point where we’re looking at something to feed cattle.”

Clark is recommending feeding 25 pounds of corn per day per head of cattle.

“That’s not going to fill them up, but it will sustain them,” he said. “That’s all we’re trying to do is sustain them until we get some rain.”

Clark said the potential losses to farmers due to the drought can easily top $50 million unless there is sufficient rainfall in the next few weeks.

“If farmers are not able to get in peanuts, cotton and corn crops, Thomas County farmers are going to lose $60 million in gross farm income,” he said. “And that’s a conservative estimate.”

Reporter Alan Mauldin can be reached by calling (229) 226-2400, ext. 226.