Cotton farmers Herman Rochester and his sons are putting in long hours on the more than 4,000 acres they own in the Pollard’s Bend area of Cherokee County. They also rent land from Harry Foster.

“They have had a real good crop,” said Foster. “I got up in the middle of the night the other night, looked out the window and it reminded me of snow.”

Seth Rochester said his family has farmed in the area for more than 30 years. He said they worked a total of some 4,700 acres of cotton this season. One concern: prices are just around 70 to 72 cents per pound.

“That is one thing that is really hurting us and one thing that has really got us scared is they’ve got it projected next year to go down to 50 cents a pound,” said Rochester. “Last year we were getting around $1 a pound and next year they are saying 50 cents.”

Rochester said their day begins around 7 a.m. and they average 12 or 13 hours of work this time of year.

“I haven’t had an off-day in about a month,” he said. “If it rains, we have a full day of equipment servicing to do.”

But still, he and his family are doing what they love — and it’s working out.

“Me and my dad and my brothers work as a team on this, put in a lot of work on it,” Rochester said. “And we thank the Good Lord for us and all of the other farmers in Cherokee County. He has blessed us with a good crop.”

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