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Helene shuts poultry plants, twists cotton crops in southeastern US

Typhoon Helene shut at least 2 poultry plants in Georgia and North Carolina and twisted cotton crops in South Carolina in blows to U.S. food and fiber production, company and agriculture authorities stated on Monday.

More than 100 deaths across a half-dozen states have actually been credited to the powerful storm that slammed into Florida's Big Bend area late on Thursday before cutting a destructive path through Georgia and into the Carolinas.

Wayne-Sanderson Farms, the nation's 3rd largest poultry manufacturer, closed a Moultrie, Georgia, processing plant due to a. loss of electrical power from downed transmission lines, company. representative Frank Singleton said.

The complicated procedures 1.3 million chickens weekly and its. timeline for resuming operations depends on Georgia Power. crews bring back power, Singleton stated. The company is. providing fuel shipments to local farms that likewise lost power,. he stated.

In South Carolina, many poultry operations are operating on. backup generators, said Eva Moore, spokesperson for the South. Carolina Department of Farming. The state's cotton crops. took a success, she included.

Open bolls have actually been knocked around, and plants are. twisted, Moore stated. This will produce a complicated harvest. and might affect the grades of the cotton.

Issues over potential crop damage in crucial growing locations. increased ICE cotton futures.

In North Carolina, Smithfield Foods, the world's largest. pork processor, said transportation for its hog production. operations was strained but the company did not suffer product. disturbances.

A chicken plant near Morganton, North Carolina, is down,. said Bob Ford, executive director of the North Carolina Poultry. Federation. Still, the poultry industry was normally fortunate. because feed mills are operating and floods mostly did not. impact farms, he said.

For live chickens around Morganton, they're simply going to. get fatter up until the processing plant reopens, possibly on. Wednesday, Ford stated.

(source: Reuters)