Living Through the Drought

Though we’ve had some lovely rain this week, much of the summer has been spent in drought conditions according to the government drought monitor. Even with the showers of mid-week, our area is still classified as “abnormally dry.” To a farmer like myself, these are tough conditions. According to the drought monitor, drought conditions like we have endured (and the southern tier of the state are still enduring, affect farmers with complete crop losses in some cases and reduced yield and crop size in others. Even in abnormally dry conditions, crops may be stunted or fail to come to complete fruition, but in real drought without irrigation, it can be a total bust. What you might think is an early turn of fall foliage is most likely stressed trees trying to conserve their energy toward winter.

We have seen the expected diminished production at the farm this dry summer, plus some other conditions we have not encountered before. Our corn went in late because of cool weather, then sat in dry soils for a long time before germinating so we are just beginning to pick corn about three weeks later than “normal”. Our tomato crop looked great, then the prolonged heat waves and blistering sun set growth back a way. Cucumbers did okay when we were getting regular showers as they are a very shallow rooted crop, but wizzled up in the last heat wave. We’re hopeful that subsequent plantings will come along, but we just don’t know. We had rain enough to germinate and grow most of our crops, though some were spotty…with big gaps in the rows where the seeds just never popped. The berries seemed to do okay, but ripened early and came on too strong to keep up with in July heatwaves. We are not set to irrigate our row crops, and the direction for the future is unclear…we will have to make some tough, and expensive decisions in the future, we anticipate. With supply shortages and skyrocketing prices for all the inputs of electricity, fuel, fertilizer and other supplies, the growing world is upside down for us this year with a whole lot of future uncertainty all we can be certain about.

Other areas of the state are in a much more significant drought than we, so I really shouldn’t complain. Other corners of our nation and world are in devastating droughts and some of these areas are now suffering floods as the rains are heavier when they come. Coming on top of drought, a lot of this deluge water of late is not beneficial as it cannot seep into the soil and runs off toward the ocean, damaging the world around it as it pours away. The farming world is suffering horribly in the western part of the nation. Drought after drought has evaporated much of the irrigation water relied upon by western growers, with aquifers down and lakes and rivers dwindling in the amount of water available for farmers and residents. Ranchers are selling off their cattle because there isn’t enough water to raise the hay and corn crops necessary to feed them, which may well result in even higher beef prices and potential shortages. Things are tough and things are changing.

At the very least, the cost of food is going to go even higher as farmers harvest and crop yields are down. Out west, they are set to restrict water for some farmers that provide LOTS of our food. Here, we are seeing lower productivity on our farms, and though you may not see much difference in the farm stores you visit right now, the effects are going to be felt by us farmers for a while. Margins have shrunk with higher costs of farming, and those margins have shrunk even further with lower crop yields.

Next time you grab a glass of water, think about how important that water is for your survival. We may be too late to stop the rampaging stampede of climate change, but we need to take our heads out of the proverbial sand and be quick on our feet to think of sustainable solutions to the looming problems that changing weather patterns and stressed water supplies are forcing upon us.