Macroburst storm destroys cotton crop in Bailey County

BAILEY COUNTY, TX (KCBD) - Dusty Cannon has been farming in Bula for six years, but farming runs deep in his family. His father, grandfather and great-grandfather have been farming in this area for decades.

This year's cotton was special.

"It was waist high. It was probably the best crop that I've ever seen in my lifetime, and my dad, one of the best that we were ever gonna have," Cannon said.

They were just weeks away from harvest, until a rare wet macroburst storm rolled through Bula on Sunday, destroying their best crop along the way.

"We were gonna start thinking about maybe doing some defoliating and getting ready, and just gonna see where things went. Nobody expected this to happen last night, it snuck up on us," Cannon said.

This is Cannon's first time to experience a loss like this.

Cannon says they do have crop insurance, but that doesn't come close to the profit they could have had.

"It's not gonna cover what we've got into it at this point and time - the man hours and the money and weeds and fertilizers, it won't ever pay for itself," Cannon said.

Cannon and his family aren't the only ones dealing with this tremendous loss.

"I feel for some of my neighbors. I think some of them have lost more than we have," Cannon said.

Cannon says it'll be a week until the insurance adjuster will be able to survey his damage, but he'll continue to work, just like he does every day.

"We were here yesterday, we'll be here tomorrow. It's all we know how to do. I love my job."

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