Weather keeps 'em down on the farm.

• Position: Agriculture

The old saw--"When it rains, it pours--summed up the year in North Carolina agriculture. After drought parched corn, soybean, hay and other summer crops, heavy fall rains drowned cotton--probably the most drought-resistant crop--and peanuts. It added up to yet another bad year, says Mike Blanton, assistant secretary of agriculture. "We're seeing some extremely critical times for farmers right now."

Even though 85 counties were declared federal disaster areas because of drought, they got little relief. In November, state officials learned that neither the House nor Senate would take action on disaster funds before the end of the year.

Coming off a poor 2001, many growers borrowed heavily to get last year's crops planted. "A lot of them are going to be throwing in the towel," Blanton says. "They've got no income to repay their loans this year and no resources to use for planting next year." Agriculture Secretary Meg Scott Phipps has talked with lawyers in the bankruptcy section of the North Carolina Bar Association about helping farmers plan their future.

A key challenge could come when Congress takes up the tobacco-quota buyout. The quota is how much tobacco a farmer is allowed to sell under the government's price-support system. Owners grow their quotas or lease them to others. Blanton says eight bills in Congress would authorize buyouts. The department doesn't favor any one but does favor a buyout. "It would get the lease payments out of our cost of tobacco, which would make us more competitive on the world market," Blanton says. Quotas have been cut more than 50% in five years, so many farmers have seen revenues go down steadily. Also, 2002 was a bad year for the crop. Flue-cured tobacco production was 344.5 million pounds, down 8% from 2001. Prices averaged $1.82 a pound, down 2.2%.

Bad weather meant production also declined for other major crops: corn, 48.8 million bushels, down 38%; soybeans, 31 million bushels, down 28%; cotton, 1.1 million bales, down 34%; and peanuts. 230 million pounds, down 35%. Hay shortages meant many farmers rushed cattle to market last spring. That created a glut and depressed prices for the year to about 87 cents a pound, 11% lower than 2001. Hog farmers also faced declining prices, down to 30 cents a pound, a decrease of 25%. To make up for some of the losses, farmers experimented with different crops. Some tobacco growers are trying organic farming. Others are trying specialty crops such as sprite melons...