Pam Clayton rode the cotton picker through their Vidalia fields Thursday as her husband, Charles, stomped the cotton being bailed on what was their last day of harvest for 2003.

After last year’s losses in the farming community &045;&045; with the many hurricanes that swept through the area, bringing winds and torrential rainfall &045;&045; this year’s crop has proven much better for Miss-Lou farmers.

Much of the disastrous effects of last year’s hurricanes missed Concordia Parish and hit more to the west, around Alexandria.

&uot;We’re really fortunate in this area, we haven’t had a disaster,&uot; Charles Clayton said.

Charles and Pam know how good or bad a crop can be when the only thing a farmer can do is rely on mother nature.

&uot;There ain’t nothing you can do about it,&uot; Charles Clayton said.

This year, the rain just came in the right increments at the right time for most of his crop, Charles Clayton said, although a few late rains did cause the Claytons to lose a couple of hundred pounds of cotton because the rain hit when the cotton was opening. &uot;It has probably been … close to a perfect season,&uot; he said. &uot;If there is such a thing.&uot;

With his &uot;excellent crop&uot; of about 900 to 1,000 pounds of cotton, he was pleased with the outcome. &uot;We haven’t had a good year in a while,&uot; he said.

The Clayton’s have kept busy on what Pam calls a &uot;perpetual industry&uot; of Concordia Parish. Charles Clayton has been farming 25 to 30 years now, with his wife right there beside him working the cotton picker and, on Thursday, with his son helping, too. Their two daughters helped out in the past as well, making it a family business.

A couple of weeks ago, the Claytons were harvesting their corn, also a good crop this year. Charles Clayton said they probably brought in about 160 bushels.

The Claytons’ yield is about average for what John Beale, Extension Service area agronomist for Adams County, said most farmers in Mississippi are producing. Because of the good amount of rain at the right times and the not-so-hot temperatures, the Mississippi crop has been good, Beale said. The corn harvesting is done and Beale estimated the average was about 160 to 170 bushels, a little better than normal with last year’s numbers, which averaged 140 or 150 bushels.

And last year’s cotton crop was at about 850 pounds, with most farmers averaging about 1,000 pounds this year. &uot;We’re looking at possibly breaking the state record,&uot; Beale said of the cotton crop with turnout in the delta.

Within the next week or so, farmers will begin to harvest the soy beans. Last year, the soybean crop was of poor quality, but this year is expected to be above the state average of 30 bushels, Beale said.