NORWICH – Although recent rains have turned the hillsides green again in Chenango County, the rain is too late for many farmers as the summer’s early dry spell has already done its damage, taking a toll on crops and presenting farmers with feed and financial burdens to overcome.
“Recent rains have taken what would have been an enormous disaster and turned it into a serious setback,” according to Cornell Cooperative Extension Director Ken Smith. “Farmers will be able to get some crops, but not as many as expected,” he explained.
Hot and dry weather in June and July really delivered a blow to the agricultural market. Many farmers who depend on pastures have fed their animals winter feeding crops because the lack of rain during a critical time of the growing season led to meager crops, including hay and corn this summer. Additionally, severe drought in the midwest is expected to swell the costs of grains as farmers struggle to produce those, too.
“Some parts of the county have been more impacted than others, but most everybody will be at a severe disadvantage,” Smith said, noting that a shortage of crops will also drive up the cost of feed, and the sale of farming supplies and equipment may decline as feed becomes the number one priority among farmers. In parts of the county, farmers will likely sell cattle to beef markets because the high price of feed, he added.
Local dairy farmer John Marshman said the dry spell was a double hit for his Oxford farm. Feed supplies have been stretched thin since severe flooding destroyed much of his crops last September, he said, and he faces a corn shortage again this year. “Quite often, we’re able to withstand a bad year because we try to keep carryover and contingency plans, but with two bad situations together, it gets pretty serious,” he said. “We seem to have gotten enough rain lately that corn is able to keep going” but another corn shortage won’t allow for reserve feed to keep on hand. “We count it by the days. As we’re running out, we’re hoping to harvest the next crop,” he said. “Purchasing feed is difficult with the drought. We are at an extreme price situation ... We haven’t figured out exactly what the shortage will be.”
Despite bad timing of dry weather this summer, recent rains have given Marshman reason to be optimistic as he adjusts fertilizing patterns and plans to cut hay and corn later than usual. “We’ll get it to balance out; it just takes more time management, work and money,” he said. “We’ll get through it. It’s part of what we do.”
Late rains have taken a similar toll on produce farmers who are also seeing a shorter growing season. Dry weather kept some crops from germinating as usual, making them more susceptible to birds and insects, according to Ken Walbrecht, president of the Norwich farmer’s market. Most local growers, he said, are nearly three weeks behind schedule and while rain has salvaged many produce crops, its lateness results in a short season which also means less profit for produce farmers and higher prices for consumers.
“With the last rains we got, things have started to liven up,” he said, adding that not all farms have been so fortunate and fewer vendors have been able to sell at the market this year. “It all depends on the area and where storms go through,” he said.
Said Smith, “It’s definitely a challenge that’s going to impact all farmers either directly or indirectly ... It’s been a tough hit but it’s not a knock-out blow at this point.”