Relief fund established to help Alabama farmers recover from Hurricane Sally

By:
0
1905
Photo courtesy of the Alabama Farmers Federation

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Alabama Farmers Federation has established a relief fund to help farmers from across the state whose farms were damaged by Hurricane Sally.

“When disaster strikes, I am always impressed by the people of Alabama and their giving spirits,” said Alabama Farmers Federation President Jimmy Parnell. “As we started receiving photos of damaged crops, barns and equipment, we also started getting questions from people about what they could do to help our farmers, and that’s why we’ve established this fund.”

Donations are tax deductible and may be made at AlabamaFarmersFoundation.org or by check payable to Alabama Farmers Agriculture Foundation at P.O. Box 11000, Montgomery, AL 36191. Please include “hurricane relief fund” in the check memo line.

“Most of our farmers had as good a crop as we’ve ever seen, and it was so close to harvest for cotton, soybeans, peanuts and pecans,” said Parnell. “It’s devastating to lose a crop that had so much promise. Our farmers are great people who are assisting each other with cleaning up the damage, and we’re so grateful to everyone across the state who is helping in some way, like donating to the relief fund.”

Hurricane Sally made landfall near Gulf Shores as a Category 2 storm Sept. 16 with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph. Official reports from the National Weather Service show more than 20 inches of rain in Baldwin County. Heavy rains and high winds damaged crops, structures and equipment from Mobile County in the southwest through Russell County in the east.

Donations collected through the relief fund will go toward farmer losses not covered by a farmowner policy, crop insurance or disaster relief programs.

For more information, contact the Foundation at 334-612-5525 or abutts@alfafarmers.org.