Dry, again
Written by admin on June 25, 2009 – 1:33 am -By Jason Schaefer , Taylor Daily Press (Texas)
Drought threatens farming for another year
Like waves crashing on the seashore, hot, dry weather has returned to East Williamson County in full force, just a year after last summer’s drought. With precipitation shortfalls already on the books, current weather trends threaten to worsen conditions endured last summer and winter, in spite of spring rains.
“2006, 1996, 1980 — these are the years people remember because the drought was so bad; this will be one of those years,” Williamson County Ag Extension Agent Bob Whitney said.
With the way things are going, 2009 looks to be one of the top five years out of the last five decades for the worst farming conditions on record.
Corn crops planted in the early spring by farmers hoping to take advantage of wet weather showed good growth, but have since dried up, leaving some early planters no choice but to cut and bale for winter feed hay for cattle ranchers. Very few corn crops have developed ears, and as evaporation continues, the late crops have completely stopped growing, Whitney said.
“There is just no moisture. The cracks in the cornfields are three inches apart. I don’t know what it’s going to yield, but it’ll probably be a fourth of what is normal,” Whitney said. “With evaporation rates of half an inch a day, this week will probably seal the fate of the crop.”
Sorghum is “still holding on,” Whitney said, and will likely produce, though not well, and there is still promise for the cotton crop, which continues to thrive in dry conditions. Area farmers have historically relied on these two crops, opting out of planting corn, and with the current trend, it appears farmers might return to that method.
“Up until the 1990s, we didn’t grow corn at all,” Whitney said. “We’ve had some pretty good years moisture-wise since then, but this weather will cause some soul-searching.”
Many local farmers are cashing in on farm insurance to at least keep a balanced budget, but their investments without income can only take so many hits, Whitney said. Declining farming averages result in lower insurance pay-offs, which are designed to offset expenses lost, not create profit.
“This will likely cause a lot of farmers to just quit,” Whitney said, “to plant grass and grow cows, or to just retire.“
Normal temperatures are around 92 degrees for this time of year, according to Precision Agriculture’s Dennis Bartosh, and Wednesday’s high was around 10 degrees hotter.
“It’s going to be a long time until next spring if we don’t get any fall rain, at least before it gets cold,” Bartosh said. “The bottom moisture just isn’t there; the ground is too dry. We’ve had it dry before, but this ranks right up there with the worst.”
Accuweather.com predicts temperatures above the century mark through the week, with the possibility of temperatures at or above 110 degrees in parts of the Desert Southwest.
Though local growing conditions are poor, the heat and drought will likely have little impact on the national economy, Whitney said. In the Midwest, the jet stream continues to bring very wet weather comparable to last year’s precipitation, and with the heat, has created very favorable growing conditions.
Tags: Farm Economy
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