COURTLAND, Ala. (WHNT) — Even though North Alabama is under a ‘Fire Alert,’ these dry conditions have been favorable for cotton farmers as they begin to harvest their crops.

About 30% of Alabama’s cotton crop has been harvested so far this year and farmers say it’s looking good.

Farmers say periodic rainfall during the growing season was ideal and the drier-than-usual weather that began after the cotton bolls opened has helped their farms produce more cotton than last year.

“Last year we had an average crop. It was not a great crop, but not a poor crop and some fields were both. Our overall average was just average, but it was okay… North Alabama enjoyed timely rains for the cotton acres and our crop looks to be above average,” Larkin Martin from Martin Farms told News 19.

While it’s not unusual for farmers to switch crops each year, some who usually stick with cotton didn’t farm cotton at all or reduced their production due to last year’s unstable weather and price projections.

“Many growers decided not to grow, or either cut back on their cotton acres because at the early part of the year, it looked like the corn and soybeans were going to be the more profitable crops to grow. The price of beans and corn have dropped quite a bit and the cotton prices stayed steady, and with the really fantastic yields we’re seeing out of the cotton crop, it winds up that the cotton was a good crop to grow,” Bo Kennedy, Servico President and CEO, told News 19.

Ginning starts October 20th and will go on through mid-December, that’s when farmers will be able to determine exactly how much increase in profits they’ve seen.