A little rain and heat during summer months makes for a productive growing season for farmers, but a lot of heat and record-setting rainfall is a different story.
Jason Rearick / The Citizen
Sharon Vitale, left, hands her daughter Amanda Vitale, 15, a basket to place on their stand at the Auburn Public Market Thursday morning. The Vitales, of Montezuma, have been selling at the market for more than 15 years.
Sharon Vitale, left, hands her daughter Amanda Vitale, 15, a basket to place on their stand at the Auburn Public Market Thursday morning. The Vitales, of Montezuma, have been selling at the market for more than 15 years.
“I can't think of when we've had humidity and rain for so long,” said Millie Bednarski, organizer of the Farmers Co-op Market of Cayuga County and a Cato farmer.
“It's either intense rain or intense heat ... We just don't get a light rain shower. It just drops and it rains and rains. It's such an intense year.”
The extreme weather this summer has created problems for area growers and especially for those farmers in the northern part of the county who were hit with more serious flooding last month.
Brian Aldrich, agriculture resource educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension in Cayuga County, said flooding last month led to localized crop losses, and the frequent rains over the course of the whole summer have made it difficult for all area farmers to make dry hay to feed livestock and to spray fields for weed control.
Growers at the farmers' market Thursday had encountered problems this year ranging from mold and plant viruses to soil erosion because of the combination of intense rain and heat.
Bob Horsford, of Horsford Farms in Weedsport, said the constant rain has made it more difficult to plant and harvest his crops because of the wet fields. The downpours have also caused topsoil to wash away, he said.
“I should be planting my crops in my driveway,” Horsford said, noting that that's where some of the topsoil ended up. “This year, it's been exceptionally wet.”
Horsford lost a half-acre of potatoes earlier this summer.
Melody Ibbs, of Ibbs Maple Lawn Farm in Wolcott, who was selling her vegetables at the booth next to Horsford, said while a half-acre may not seem like much, it can mean a lot to small farmers.
“A half-acre to us is a major thing,” Ibbs said. “If you lose a row of something, it's a major loss.”
Ibbs said farmers have also had to contend with plant diseases because of the wet, followed by hot weather conditions: “You get water, then the heat turns around and it's just ideal conditions for all these viruses to grow,” she said.
With the difficult conditions this year, Bednarski has noticed fewer vendors at the farmers' market along Genesee Street held three days a week. The farmers don't have as much to sell this year, she said.
The rainfall and recent intense heat has actually been beneficial to some crops, however. Corn and soybean fields that were not flooded and were planted on time are “looking very good” and maturing ahead of schedule, Aldrich said.
“Corn now is very happy,” he said. “Heat is what makes the corn crops grow. The corn crops are coming like gangbusters now.”
He anticipates crop yields this growing season will vary across the county, ranging from “total losses to some very good yields,” since some areas received more rainfall than others.
For Vaughn Anna, of Anna Farms in Moravia and Skaneateles, this season hasn't presented huge difficulties. With other farmers being hit hard, the fact that his farm has not suffered as much has worked to his advantage.
“We didn't lose very many crops,” Anna said. “It all depends on where you are. But overall, the farmers are all hurting because of the weather.”
For that reason, Cornell Cooperative Extension is encouraging farmers to use resources available to them. It is important, Aldrich said, for farmers who have suffered crop losses to report them to the local USDA Farm Service Agency at 252-4171.
Farmers who are short on hay because of the intense weather conditions can also seek help. In July, the New York Farm Bureau Foundation for Agricultural Education created the Feed and Forage Fund to help farmers recovering from June and July flood damage to cover costs of transporting replacement hay. A Web site, www.hayexchange.com, acts as a online auction for hay.
In July, the region received a record-setting 10.12 inches of rainfall, according to the Syracuse-area climate report from the National Weather Service.
But even with the unusual weather this summer, there is still hope yet for the late crops in this growing season.
“If the weather lets up and it cools down, the late crops might do okay,” Anna said. “There's always a chance they'll work out okay.”
Staff writer Anne Gleason can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 248 or at anne.gleason@lee.net.
“It's either intense rain or intense heat ... We just don't get a light rain shower. It just drops and it rains and rains. It's such an intense year.”
The extreme weather this summer has created problems for area growers and especially for those farmers in the northern part of the county who were hit with more serious flooding last month.
Brian Aldrich, agriculture resource educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension in Cayuga County, said flooding last month led to localized crop losses, and the frequent rains over the course of the whole summer have made it difficult for all area farmers to make dry hay to feed livestock and to spray fields for weed control.
Growers at the farmers' market Thursday had encountered problems this year ranging from mold and plant viruses to soil erosion because of the combination of intense rain and heat.
Bob Horsford, of Horsford Farms in Weedsport, said the constant rain has made it more difficult to plant and harvest his crops because of the wet fields. The downpours have also caused topsoil to wash away, he said.
“I should be planting my crops in my driveway,” Horsford said, noting that that's where some of the topsoil ended up. “This year, it's been exceptionally wet.”
Horsford lost a half-acre of potatoes earlier this summer.
Melody Ibbs, of Ibbs Maple Lawn Farm in Wolcott, who was selling her vegetables at the booth next to Horsford, said while a half-acre may not seem like much, it can mean a lot to small farmers.
“A half-acre to us is a major thing,” Ibbs said. “If you lose a row of something, it's a major loss.”
Ibbs said farmers have also had to contend with plant diseases because of the wet, followed by hot weather conditions: “You get water, then the heat turns around and it's just ideal conditions for all these viruses to grow,” she said.
With the difficult conditions this year, Bednarski has noticed fewer vendors at the farmers' market along Genesee Street held three days a week. The farmers don't have as much to sell this year, she said.
The rainfall and recent intense heat has actually been beneficial to some crops, however. Corn and soybean fields that were not flooded and were planted on time are “looking very good” and maturing ahead of schedule, Aldrich said.
“Corn now is very happy,” he said. “Heat is what makes the corn crops grow. The corn crops are coming like gangbusters now.”
He anticipates crop yields this growing season will vary across the county, ranging from “total losses to some very good yields,” since some areas received more rainfall than others.
For Vaughn Anna, of Anna Farms in Moravia and Skaneateles, this season hasn't presented huge difficulties. With other farmers being hit hard, the fact that his farm has not suffered as much has worked to his advantage.
“We didn't lose very many crops,” Anna said. “It all depends on where you are. But overall, the farmers are all hurting because of the weather.”
For that reason, Cornell Cooperative Extension is encouraging farmers to use resources available to them. It is important, Aldrich said, for farmers who have suffered crop losses to report them to the local USDA Farm Service Agency at 252-4171.
Farmers who are short on hay because of the intense weather conditions can also seek help. In July, the New York Farm Bureau Foundation for Agricultural Education created the Feed and Forage Fund to help farmers recovering from June and July flood damage to cover costs of transporting replacement hay. A Web site, www.hayexchange.com, acts as a online auction for hay.
In July, the region received a record-setting 10.12 inches of rainfall, according to the Syracuse-area climate report from the National Weather Service.
But even with the unusual weather this summer, there is still hope yet for the late crops in this growing season.
“If the weather lets up and it cools down, the late crops might do okay,” Anna said. “There's always a chance they'll work out okay.”
Staff writer Anne Gleason can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 248 or at anne.gleason@lee.net.
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Farmer's Girl wrote on Aug 4, 2006 11:12 AM: