Hurricane Ian is expected to impact the Carolinas. Farmers are rapidly preparing

CHESTER COUNTY, S.C. — The rain and wind we expect to see this weekend could impact farmers throughout North and South Carolina, and farmers are doing what they can to prepare.

Chester County’s Cotton Hills Farm has worked around the clock since Monday to harvest cotton ahead of the weekend.  The farm has 400 acres of cotton, making it a very important crop to the family business. 

“Right now the rush is the tropical storm/hurricane that’s headed our way. We want to get as much in as we can because heavy wind and heavy rain can blow the cotton off the plant, and once the cotton hits the ground, we don’t have any way to harvest it,” said Jeb Wilson with the farm.

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The cotton was just ready for harvest on Monday, and it’s been all hands on deck since to get as much work done as possible.  This week, farmers have harvested almost 20 blocks of cotton, with each block capable of making about 4,000 pairs of jeans. 

Thursday was not an ideal day to work because strong winds blew cotton off of tractors, but the work has to be done sooner rather than later.

Wilson said farmers across the state could be impacted by the weather, especially peanut farmers on the coast because if heavy rain and wind hit a peanut farm, it could destroy it.

RELATED: Here’s what events are postponed or canceled due to Ian impacts in the Carolinas

Contact Indira Eskieva at ieskieva@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.