ORANGEBURG COUNTY, S.C. — Historically, cotton has been one of South Carolina's major cash crops.
It continues to be a big seller for farmers in Orangeburg and Calhoun Counties.
However, damage resulting from Hurricane Ian has farmers on edge about this season.
“Starting before the hurricane, I would have said this year’s crop was better than last year’s," said farmer Dean Hutto.
Since then, he says his outlook has changed.
Hutto is a seventh-generation farmer in the Providence community of Orangeburg County. His family has been growing cotton there for 200 years. Even though he experience Ian-related losses this year, he says he was still able to sustain an above-average yield.
“You gotta count your blessings when you can," said Hutto, “We’re blessed to be able to have what we have and it could’ve been a lot of worse and I know down in Florida and Georgia they had some spots down there that didn’t fare as well as we did."
Hutto estimates he lost about 10 to 20 percent of his crop. He says this is minimal compared to farmers in the PeeDee region of the state, where they lost up to 75 percent.
He says he hasn't experienced a loss that devastating since the historic 2015 floods when was left with no harvest to crop.
“The impact isn’t just on the farmer. It’s on the cotton gin. It’s on the gentleman that drives the truck that holds the cotton from the field to the gin. It’s on the parts store in town, in these small towns that supply these farmers with parts and supplies," he said.
That being said, it's still early in the season and he's keeping faith alive.
“Hopefully we end up having a good harvest. We’ve had some great weather here probably in the last 10 days and it looks like we got some good weather coming up. I think most farmers in the state would like to see it rain about Thanksgiving and let us get this thing out.”