Watermelon growers expect ample July 4th supply

<p>Georgia's watermelon crop is off to a rocky start, but consumers should find an ample supply for summer picnics, experts say.</p><p>Ken Lewis, extension coordinator in Crisp County, the state's production leader, said watermelons have been delayed 7 to 10 days by unusually cool spring weather and by high winds that twisted tender vines and blasted them with sand.</p><p>The crop should recover quickly as the state warms up, he said.</p><p>Georgia's watermelons usually mature just in time for peak Independence Day demand, creating a lucrative market for the state's growers. Prices tend to tumble after the Fourth of July.</p><p>Georgia's crop was worth $75 million in 2003, but considerably less last year because of an oversupply.</p><p>"I'm still hopeful that we will have what we consider a good crop," Lewis said.</p><p>Although growers should be able to meet holiday demand, they may have more leftover melons than usual afterward, he said.</p><p>Farmers in south-central Georgia plant about 35,000 acres each year. Melons give them a source of cash months before the harvest of peanuts, cotton and other major crops.</p><p>Crisp County's largest town, Cordele, bills itself as the "Watermelon Capital of the World," and hosts an annual watermelon festival.</p><p>Grower Bob Rawlings, who has about 100 acres of watermelons near Rebecca, about 20 miles southeast of Cordele, said the chilly weather delayed his crop, but his cover crop of rye grass protected it from blowing sand.</p><p>"I think there's going to be plenty of melons," said Rawlings, a past president of the Georgia Watermelon Growers Association. "I just hope we don't have an oversupply."</p>

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