From EMPIRE FARM & DAIRY magazine
By MARC HELLER
hellmarc@gmail.com
There’s an old saying that if you have one foot in a bucket of boiling water, and the other in a bucket of ice water, on average you feel about right.
New York farmers may be wishing that expression applied to agriculture. A year after one of the worst droughts in a generation, heavy rains threaten to dilute many farmers’ profits.
Parts of northern and western New York have seen several months in a row of above-normal rainfall, which cut into the planting season and has delayed cutting of hay. And while state agriculture officials aren’t calling the season a disaster, they say production is likely to suffer in some areas.
The contrast in moisture is a reminder, too, they say, of the value of conservation measures that preserve the soil — and which federal and state programs are meant to promote — and of the benefits of growing as wide a variety of crops as possible.
“We’re a resilient lot,” said state Commissioner of Agriculture and Markets Richard Ball, who’s far from declaring the season a flop. “It takes a whole year to make a year.”
Ball, a farmer in Schoharie, said some farmers couldn’t plant their preferred crops. Dairy farmers and others have adjusted by turning to alternatives, he said. New York farmers planted only about 75 percent of the typical acreage of potatoes, for instance, and acreage is down for grain corn, a key feed for dairy cattle, he said.
Weather statistics tell some of the story.
Weather stations in Glens Falls, Watertown and Rochester all show wetter-than-average rainfall from spring through July.
Watertown had 6.18 inches of rain in June alone, roughly double the normal amount, the National Weather Service reported. Glens Falls saw more than five and a half inches in July, following above-average rain in June, May and April.
“We’ve really done a one-eighty,” said Steve Ammerman, spokesman for New York Farm Bureau. “Things are a bit behind this year.”
Spring rains also kept the soil cooler, later into the season, Ammerman said, which cuts into production of some crops. But the news hasn’t been entirely discouraging; conditions have improved in several areas, and farmers who have well-drained land have fared all right, he said.
Although last year was exceedingly dry, this year’s downpours may be part of a longer trend, said Jonathan Negley, district manager for the Tompkins County Soil and Water Conservation District.
Rain appears to fall harder and in shorter periods than in years past, he said, meaning fields that once took five or eight inches of rain in 24 hours must absorb it in half an hour instead, which often isn’t possible.
“This is just a reality that we are all going to have to face in the future, and now,” Negley said. “Sometimes it is just unrealistic to design structures at this demanding level, so we just put in extra layers of protection or bypasses during those heavy flows.”
Officials at soil and water conservation districts — which are county-level offices that work in cooperation with state and federal agencies — continue to encourage the practices they have for years, including keeping water clean, collecting excess rainwater where possible so it can be used in dry periods, and maintaining healthy soil that’s better at holding moisture, Negley said.
That’s a more challenging mission in areas where land is being developed and paved surfaces create runoff, Negley said. Collecting the excess water becomes more important in those areas, he said.
On farms, practices such as no-till and cover crops are increasing and help the land withstand both heavy rain and drought, Ammerman said.
Programs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture promote those measures and in many cases require farmers to have conservation plans. In the 2014 farm bill, Congress reinstated conservation compliance as a condition for crop insurance, and the issue is likely to come up again in the farm bill’s renewal in 2018.
Although much of the government investment in conservation comes from Washington, state agencies in New York play a role.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration has promoted a $300 million environmental protection fund, and Ball said his department prepared a resource guide for farmers outlining the assistance available in the case of federal disaster declarations, which applied to much of the state during last year’s drought.
In addition, Ball said, past floods have taught officials about the importance of maintaining culverts along roads in farm country. The experience with Tropical Storm Irene in 2011 revealed the shortcomings of those drainage systems, he said.
“Every one of them is a choke point, potentially,” Ball said.
Showing posts with label flooding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label flooding. Show all posts
Sunday, September 3, 2017
Excessive Rainfall May Hinder Quality, Yields of Many Crops
From EMPIRE FARM & DAIRY magazine
By MARCUS WOLF
MWOLF@WDT.NET
Farmers in the Northeast are bracing for a loss of crops and a reduction in quality after months of heavy rainfall and cooler temperatures.
“It’s just been a rough year for everyone who’s trying to grow anything out in the field,” said Michael Hunter, a field crop specialist for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson and Lewis counties.
Dairy farmers with oversaturated fields across the state likely will experience lower yields for their corn crops this year, Hunter said.
Jon Greenwood, a Canton dairy farmer and president of the St. Lawrence County Farm Bureau, said several farmers were forced to plant their corn late, and the weather and rainfall have delayed its growth.
If the corn doesn’t mature before the frost, Greenwood, who owns Greenwood Dairy Farm with his wife Linda, said farmers could lose some of their yields.
“(Even) if it turns out right for the rest of the season, some of the fields are never going to be able to turn around or reach maturity,” said Joseph Lawrence, a dairy forage systems specialist with the Cornell PRO-DAIRY program.
Douglas Shelmidine, co-owner of Sheland Farms in the town of Ellisburg, said the rainy weather earlier this year delayed him from planting his corn by three weeks, and the recent rainfall has oversaturated some of the acreage for his corn crop. Whether the corn matures in time before the frost will determine the impact to its nutritional quality, he said.
“I’m not losing sleep over quality just yet,” he said.
For soybeans, Lawrence said the nutritional quality will remain stable so long as the plants can fully mature, although some farmers might harvest smaller beans due to the lack of sun and lower temperatures. Farmers also may be able to avoid significant losses in yields should they experience a late frost.
Unlike with corn and other grain crops, the above-average rainfall has provided a sufficient hay yield for several farmers, but the weather has prevented them from harvesting it at times.
Hunter said farmers’ opportunities for harvesting hay at its nutritional peak are narrow, and the heavy rain has prevented them from harvesting at the optimal times, meaning the quality of the crop will most likely decline.
Lawrence said a drop in hay quality likely would result in a drop in milk production, unless farmers decide to purchase supplements to maintain the nutritional quality of their feed.
“We missed a lot of optimal times for harvesting our hay crop at the times we would like to,” Hunter said.
John Wagner, a field supervisor with New York Farm Bureau, said recent showers have delayed crop growers, including dairy farmers, in Oswego County from harvesting their hay for dry hay silage on time due to excessive moisture in the ground. Those farmers, he said, will have hay with “quality (that) has been severely degraded.”
Wagner also said excessive rainfall in the spring prevented Oswego County farmers from planting their corn and soybeans at the time they wanted.
“So that’s going to affect the yield and quality as we get toward the harvest (in the fall),” he said. The above-average rainfall in the past four months also has delayed the planting of some farmers’ vegetables and hurt the quality of some of their produce.
In addition to setting the planting of some of his vegetables back three weeks, costing him three weeks in sales, Jay Canzonier, who owns North Branch Farms in Belleville, said the excess rain has forced him to cull a larger percentage of his tomatoes and throw away about two-thirds of the cucumbers he and his staff pick.
Every other year, Canzonier said his vegetables experience rapid growth, a growth they haven’t achieved due to the recent weather.
The rain and cold also have brought the risk of disease spreading through crops and produce, but Canzonier said he is taking measures to prevent disease from reaching his produce.
Despite recent conditions, Canzonier said he still has sufficient produce for sale, including bell peppers, sweet corn, lettuce and tomatoes.
“There is a lot of good stuff out there for people to grab,” Canzonier said.
Chris Bush, who operates Bush Gardens in Denmark with her husband, Loren, said the recent weather has cost her about a quarter of her crops. With fewer vegetables to sell, Bush said she was unable to participate in the Lowville Farmers Market this year, but she still was able to sell produce at the Watertown and Carthage farmers markets.
Bush also said some of her cucumbers have died, some of her tomatoes are still green and small, some of her cauliflower plants have black spots, and some of her potatoes are too small. The tomatoes and cucumbers she planted in her three high tunnels, however, “look decent” and make up the majority of the produce at the farmers markets.
“You just have to wait and see what happens and hope you can harvest what you planted,” Bush said.
Dick DeGraff, who owns Grindstone Farm in Pulaski, said he believes he lost 30 to 40 percent of his produce so far this season from the above average rainfall, including some that were “just plain waterlogged.”
Most of the produce he said he planted inside his high tunnels was fine, but he was worried about the wet weather bringing fungal diseases.
“We haven’t been able to cultivate many of our crops,” he said. “We can actually handle no rain, but we can’t handle too much rain.”
DeGraff also said he and his staff haven’t been able to pick blueberries when they ripen due to the excess rain.
“I’m seeing a lot of soft fruit. I think (the weather has) damaged the fruit,” he said. “After this last weekend, the fruit quality has diminished significantly.”
George Krul, who owns Stoney Meadow Farm in Oswego, said he lost about 25 percent of his produce from the rain, which runs down the hills into some of the fields where he has planted pumpkins, sweet corn, squash and gourds. Some of his pumpkins also were affected by fungal infections and blight, he said.
Krul, however, said produce he planted in well-drained soil, including his tomatoes, was not affected.
“Anything that’s on well-drained ground seems to have a better chance,” he said.
By MARCUS WOLF
MWOLF@WDT.NET
Farmers in the Northeast are bracing for a loss of crops and a reduction in quality after months of heavy rainfall and cooler temperatures.
“It’s just been a rough year for everyone who’s trying to grow anything out in the field,” said Michael Hunter, a field crop specialist for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson and Lewis counties.
Dairy farmers with oversaturated fields across the state likely will experience lower yields for their corn crops this year, Hunter said.
Jon Greenwood, a Canton dairy farmer and president of the St. Lawrence County Farm Bureau, said several farmers were forced to plant their corn late, and the weather and rainfall have delayed its growth.
If the corn doesn’t mature before the frost, Greenwood, who owns Greenwood Dairy Farm with his wife Linda, said farmers could lose some of their yields.
“(Even) if it turns out right for the rest of the season, some of the fields are never going to be able to turn around or reach maturity,” said Joseph Lawrence, a dairy forage systems specialist with the Cornell PRO-DAIRY program.
Douglas Shelmidine, co-owner of Sheland Farms in the town of Ellisburg, said the rainy weather earlier this year delayed him from planting his corn by three weeks, and the recent rainfall has oversaturated some of the acreage for his corn crop. Whether the corn matures in time before the frost will determine the impact to its nutritional quality, he said.
“I’m not losing sleep over quality just yet,” he said.
For soybeans, Lawrence said the nutritional quality will remain stable so long as the plants can fully mature, although some farmers might harvest smaller beans due to the lack of sun and lower temperatures. Farmers also may be able to avoid significant losses in yields should they experience a late frost.
Unlike with corn and other grain crops, the above-average rainfall has provided a sufficient hay yield for several farmers, but the weather has prevented them from harvesting it at times.
Hunter said farmers’ opportunities for harvesting hay at its nutritional peak are narrow, and the heavy rain has prevented them from harvesting at the optimal times, meaning the quality of the crop will most likely decline.
Lawrence said a drop in hay quality likely would result in a drop in milk production, unless farmers decide to purchase supplements to maintain the nutritional quality of their feed.
“We missed a lot of optimal times for harvesting our hay crop at the times we would like to,” Hunter said.
John Wagner, a field supervisor with New York Farm Bureau, said recent showers have delayed crop growers, including dairy farmers, in Oswego County from harvesting their hay for dry hay silage on time due to excessive moisture in the ground. Those farmers, he said, will have hay with “quality (that) has been severely degraded.”
Wagner also said excessive rainfall in the spring prevented Oswego County farmers from planting their corn and soybeans at the time they wanted.
“So that’s going to affect the yield and quality as we get toward the harvest (in the fall),” he said. The above-average rainfall in the past four months also has delayed the planting of some farmers’ vegetables and hurt the quality of some of their produce.
In addition to setting the planting of some of his vegetables back three weeks, costing him three weeks in sales, Jay Canzonier, who owns North Branch Farms in Belleville, said the excess rain has forced him to cull a larger percentage of his tomatoes and throw away about two-thirds of the cucumbers he and his staff pick.
Every other year, Canzonier said his vegetables experience rapid growth, a growth they haven’t achieved due to the recent weather.
The rain and cold also have brought the risk of disease spreading through crops and produce, but Canzonier said he is taking measures to prevent disease from reaching his produce.
Despite recent conditions, Canzonier said he still has sufficient produce for sale, including bell peppers, sweet corn, lettuce and tomatoes.
“There is a lot of good stuff out there for people to grab,” Canzonier said.
Chris Bush, who operates Bush Gardens in Denmark with her husband, Loren, said the recent weather has cost her about a quarter of her crops. With fewer vegetables to sell, Bush said she was unable to participate in the Lowville Farmers Market this year, but she still was able to sell produce at the Watertown and Carthage farmers markets.
Bush also said some of her cucumbers have died, some of her tomatoes are still green and small, some of her cauliflower plants have black spots, and some of her potatoes are too small. The tomatoes and cucumbers she planted in her three high tunnels, however, “look decent” and make up the majority of the produce at the farmers markets.
“You just have to wait and see what happens and hope you can harvest what you planted,” Bush said.
Dick DeGraff, who owns Grindstone Farm in Pulaski, said he believes he lost 30 to 40 percent of his produce so far this season from the above average rainfall, including some that were “just plain waterlogged.”
Most of the produce he said he planted inside his high tunnels was fine, but he was worried about the wet weather bringing fungal diseases.
“We haven’t been able to cultivate many of our crops,” he said. “We can actually handle no rain, but we can’t handle too much rain.”
DeGraff also said he and his staff haven’t been able to pick blueberries when they ripen due to the excess rain.
“I’m seeing a lot of soft fruit. I think (the weather has) damaged the fruit,” he said. “After this last weekend, the fruit quality has diminished significantly.”
George Krul, who owns Stoney Meadow Farm in Oswego, said he lost about 25 percent of his produce from the rain, which runs down the hills into some of the fields where he has planted pumpkins, sweet corn, squash and gourds. Some of his pumpkins also were affected by fungal infections and blight, he said.
Krul, however, said produce he planted in well-drained soil, including his tomatoes, was not affected.
“Anything that’s on well-drained ground seems to have a better chance,” he said.
Calves Rescued From Flooding in Tioga County
By DEBRA J. GROOM
dgroom@wdt.net
From EMPIRE FARM & DAIRY magazine
The wet weather of this growing season hasn’t been tough only on those with crops in the ground and hay to bale.
Some of God’s living creatures also have been put through the wringer with all this rain.
At Engelbert Farms in Nichols, Tioga County, the rain from July 24 nearly drowned their 20 calves. The little ones were snug and warm and safe in their calf hutches when the Wappasening Creek began to overflow.
“We got a call at 2:15 a.m. that it looked like our calves were drowning,” Lisa Engelbert said via Facebook. “We called our sons, and headed down. When I got down there, my heart sank — I thought we had lost all of the calves in hutches. I shined my spotlight out and saw that they were alive, but some were struggling to keep their heads above water.”
Engelbert said while her farm received only about 2.5 inches of rain, upstream the Wappasening Creek watershed saw about 6 inches of rain in a very short period of time.
“My son, John arrived and he started unhooking calves and putting them into the back of his truck. I was in the truck trying to keep them towards the front of the truck bed,” Engelbert said. “Kevin hooked up the cattle trailer and we started putting calves in there. Several of the guys who work on the farm arrived soon after, but it took our son, Joe, about 45 minutes to get here because so many roads and bridges were washed out.”
“The calves were all rescued and taken to Rob Moore’s organic farm up on the hill. The guys loaded 15 organic piglets as a precaution and took them to Kittle’s organic farm on the hill,” she said. “We lost three calves to pneumonia due to getting water in their lungs, but the rest are doing well. The pigs and calves came back home the next day.”
The flash flooding was from the Wappasening Creek and was an isolated rain event, “so we didn’t have flooding issues from the Susquehanna River,” Engelbert said.
Farms like Engelbert Farms in this area of the Southern Tier have seen the mighty Susquehanna flood numerous times, wreaking havoc on the land. The most recent was Sept. 7, 2011, when Tropical Storm Lee dropped about 18 inches of rain near Nichols.
Meteorologists at that time said the river rose to 26.67 feet in the nearby town of Waverly.
“It came through like a Tsunami,” said Engelbert in a story in Lancaster Farming. During that flood, nearly 400 acres of land, a milkhouse, milking parlor, the house and crop fields were filled with water and mud from the Wappasening Creek and Susquehanna River.
dgroom@wdt.net
From EMPIRE FARM & DAIRY magazine
The wet weather of this growing season hasn’t been tough only on those with crops in the ground and hay to bale.
Some of God’s living creatures also have been put through the wringer with all this rain.
At Engelbert Farms in Nichols, Tioga County, the rain from July 24 nearly drowned their 20 calves. The little ones were snug and warm and safe in their calf hutches when the Wappasening Creek began to overflow.
“We got a call at 2:15 a.m. that it looked like our calves were drowning,” Lisa Engelbert said via Facebook. “We called our sons, and headed down. When I got down there, my heart sank — I thought we had lost all of the calves in hutches. I shined my spotlight out and saw that they were alive, but some were struggling to keep their heads above water.”
Engelbert said while her farm received only about 2.5 inches of rain, upstream the Wappasening Creek watershed saw about 6 inches of rain in a very short period of time.
“My son, John arrived and he started unhooking calves and putting them into the back of his truck. I was in the truck trying to keep them towards the front of the truck bed,” Engelbert said. “Kevin hooked up the cattle trailer and we started putting calves in there. Several of the guys who work on the farm arrived soon after, but it took our son, Joe, about 45 minutes to get here because so many roads and bridges were washed out.”
“The calves were all rescued and taken to Rob Moore’s organic farm up on the hill. The guys loaded 15 organic piglets as a precaution and took them to Kittle’s organic farm on the hill,” she said. “We lost three calves to pneumonia due to getting water in their lungs, but the rest are doing well. The pigs and calves came back home the next day.”
The flash flooding was from the Wappasening Creek and was an isolated rain event, “so we didn’t have flooding issues from the Susquehanna River,” Engelbert said.
Farms like Engelbert Farms in this area of the Southern Tier have seen the mighty Susquehanna flood numerous times, wreaking havoc on the land. The most recent was Sept. 7, 2011, when Tropical Storm Lee dropped about 18 inches of rain near Nichols.
Meteorologists at that time said the river rose to 26.67 feet in the nearby town of Waverly.
“It came through like a Tsunami,” said Engelbert in a story in Lancaster Farming. During that flood, nearly 400 acres of land, a milkhouse, milking parlor, the house and crop fields were filled with water and mud from the Wappasening Creek and Susquehanna River.
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Farmers Must Keep Accurate Records to Report Rain, Flooding Losses
The USDA Farm Service Agency is urging all farmers affected by excessive rain to keep records and report losses to their local Farm Service Agency office.
The FSA will use damage reports to estimate overall financial loss from recent overabundance of rain. FSA will continue working with state and local officials and federal officials to ensure people have the necessary resources to recover from the flooding and rain.
Producers who purchased 2013 NAP (Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program) coverage and have experienced crop losses, you should immediately file a notice of loss and 2013 FSA-578 Acreage Report with their office. The deadline to file a notice of loss is 15 days from the date of the disaster or when the loss becomes apparent.
DO NOT destroy any crop acreage until you have notified FSA and have requested an appraisal on your 2013 un-harvested crop acres.
To complete the loss claim, producers must provide Farm Service Agency officials with records of the 2013 harvested production. After the appraisal and harvest ends, producers will apply for payment. Anyone with crop insurance should be sure to contact your local crop insurance agent as soon as possible to notify them of possible claims.
Other items that must be reported if there are losses due to flooding are any crop or agriculture building damage, livestock loss or forested land damage, due to flooding. FSA will provide information if assistance for these losses becomes available.
Go to http://offices.sc.egov.usda.gov/locator/app?state=ny&agency=fsa and click on your county to find your local Farm Service Agency office.
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Rain Floods Some Fields
But it seems Central New York has been getting picked on by the rain gods.
Take a look at this farmer's field in Madison County. And believe me, I've seen worse. In Chenango County on Friday, I saw a field of corn in a low-lying area completely under water.
Last year it was drought, now all this rain. Let's hope the weather straightens out and brings forth great vegetables and fruits soon.
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Midwest Can't Get a Weather Break
Read or listen http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/06/12/191071185/as-drought-turns-to-floods-farmers-get-weather-whiplash?ft=1&f=1001&sc=tw&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter to the National Public Radio story here.
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Friday, May 3, 2013
Flooding, Drought Subsiding in the U.S.
Most of the Midwestern flooding has peaked outside of the Northern Red River Valley, said USDA Meteorologist Brad Rippey.
He also said more rain on the way for the region does not mean more flooding.
"Even though we have a new storm that’s starting to affect the region it
doesn’t look like rainfall totals will be quite enough to bring a whole
new round of flooding. Yes, we’ll see some localized flooding
developing in some of the lowland areas, but no more big flooding like
what we saw in late April."
Rippey also said the flooding was not as bad as it could have been, due in part to the drought.
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