New Virus Threatens State’s Cotton Crop
A new virus is threatening Alabama’s cotton crop. Many of the state’s cotton farmers are monitoring their fields more closely after agriculture officials issued warnings about the disease. The cotton leafroll dwarf virus has no known cure. The disease is in other southeastern states, and it has reduced cotton yields — measured in bales — by the tens of thousands.
The virus, which is transmitted by aphids, was first discovered in Alabama in 2017. Today it’s in 24 counties. WBHM’s Andrew Yeager spoke with Austin Hagan, plant pathologist with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. Hagan says researchers are trying to get a clearer picture of the damage so far from the virus. “That’s why this year we’ve got a more aggressive survey program in order to try and establish the distribution and severity of the disease,” Hagan says. “Now we’ve got to put some numbers behind them.” Hagan says officials are trying to determine whether the virus is intensifying.
The impact of the virus has varied across the state. There were major losses in Baldwin County. A number of cotton fields there had 100% infection levels and didn’t yield any cotton and showed severe damage, Hagan says. Other fields, the virus appeared to have hit late enough and resulted in smaller yield loss. But overall, he says, the loss has been relatively small — several thousand acres compared with 340,000 acres of cotton across the state.
The Alabama Cooperative Extension System says the virus diminishes blooms and bolls in the upper canopy, resulting in lower yields. The disease mostly affects late-planted cotton. Officials recommend farmers plant earlier to reduce the chances of severe infection.
Photo by Cotton Harves
How George Wallace and Bull Connor set the stage for Alabama’s sky-high electric rates
After his notorious stand in the schoolhouse door, Wallace needed a new target. He found it in Alabama Power.
FIFA president defends World Cup ticket prices, saying demand is hitting records
The FIFA President addressed outrage over ticket prices for the World Cup by pointing to record demand and reiterating that most of the proceeds will help support soccer around the world.
From chess to a medical mystery: Great global reads from 2025 you may have missed
We published hundreds of stories on global health and development each year. Some are ... alas ... a bit underappreciated by readers. We've asked our staff for their favorite overlooked posts of 2025.
The U.S. offers Ukraine a 15-year security guarantee for now, Zelenskyy says
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday the United States is offering his country security guarantees for a period of 15 years as part of a proposed peace plan.
Genre fiction and female authors top U.S. libraries’ most-borrowed lists in 2025
All of the top 10 books borrowed through the public library app Libby were written by women. And Kristin Hannah's The Women was the top checkout in many library systems around the country.
The Best Tiny Desk Concerts of 2025
Which Tiny Desk made an audio engineer question everything? Which one made a producer want to cry? Touch grass? Look back on the year in Tiny Desk, with the people who make them.
