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This summer’s record-breaking temperatures and arid conditions have area farmers and many business owners looking for some relief.
Even with this weekend’s rainfall, it’s been a brutal summer for area agriculture. Since May, Floyd County has experienced 17 record-tying or record-breaking high temperatures.
Keith Mickler, agricultural agent at the Floyd County Extension Office, said the lack of rain is affecting local crops much more than the high temperatures.
“The drought is what’s got most of the farmers concerned,” he said. “Plants can take the heat, but they just don’t take the dry weather well.”
Corn and hay crops have been affected the most by the drought, Mickler said, while cotton and soybean crops are reaching a critical stage as well.
The intensity of the summer weather has greatly affe
“I’ve never seen it this dry. I’ve never seen crops hurt this bad,” says Jack Montgomery, who has been a farmer for 65 years. Ryan Smith / RN-T |
cted Bagwell Dairy’s production of hay, corn and milk.
Co-owner Charles Bagwell said the milk produced from the company’s 150 cows is down 40 percent, and the hay and corn crops have been devastated as well.
Even with this weekend’s rainfall, Bagwell said it’s probably too late for his corn. “Certainly one rain’s not going to change the trend that we’re in,” he said. “We need at least an inch a week.”
The Bagwell farm operates on a center-pivot irrigation system, meaning only the plants in the middle of the farm along U.S. 411 north of Cave Spring are w
Shane Maynor of Midian Roofing takes a drink of water while working at Rome High School. Ryan Smith / RN-T |
atered. Outlying crops have been destroyed, Bagwell said.
Co-owner Irwin Bagwell said the farm would probably lose 700 to 800 acres of its 1,000-acre corn crop. The last year the family’s farm was devastated to this extent was during the drought of 1993, he added.
Jack Montgomery, another Cave Spring-area farmer, said he is experiencing similar problems.
Montgomery, who raises hay, bees and timber, said he has also only been able to get one cutting out of his 200 acres of hay. If the hot, dry weather continues, he fears there won’t be another hay cutting this year.
As for his 700 acres of timber, the crop is holding its own, he said, but the trees aren’t growing.
“The growth on them this year will be next to nothing,” Montgomery said.
The same goes for his 20 bee colonies, he said. His honey production for the year has been extremely low.
“It’s taking a toll on farmers,” he said. “I’ve never seen it this dry. I’ve never seen crops hurt this bad.”
According to Montgomery, a farmer for 65 years, steady, consistent rainfalls moving through the area are what the local farmers need.
“We’ve got to have rain regularly,” he said. “Ideally, we need an inch of rain every week. But, if we could get a half an inch every week, it would make a big difference.”
Montgomery said he is a little more hopeful after this weekend’s rains. “That got the ground wet. Just a little bit of rain now ought to keep it going,” he said. “If we keep getting a little shower every evening, then we may be back in business.”
The National Weather Service predicts a chance for thunderstorms this week, with highs in the low to mid 90s.
If temperatures remain low and the humidity stays high, Montgomery said, it could spark a turnaround.
Farmers in the counties of Floyd, Carroll, Dade, Polk and Chattooga are currently eligible for low-interest emergency loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. And Tommy Irvin, Georgia’s commissioner of agriculture, said he plans to seek disaster aid for the state’s farmers.
But people growing crops aren’t the only ones who have to deal with a torrid summer.
Local roofing business Midian Roofing has been working around the heat and taking extra precautions to make sure workers don’t experience problems, said general manager Randy Rule.
“There’s the heart of the day, which is the hottest. We tend to either take breaks, lunches or time off during those peak hours,” he said.
Rule said the company takes special care to provide the workers with plenty of fluids. He said most of the workers are doing quite well in the heat.
“Roofers are hardened as they are anyway,” he said. “They can normally handle the heat, but the severe, over-100 degree weather is where it gets crazy.”
Quality Lawncare and Landscaping’s owner Tammy Payne said this year’s weather conditions are the worst she’s seen in her company’s 12 years of operation.
“It’s hurting bad. People are canceling because their lawns are dead,” she said.
Payne said that her business is seeing the number of lawns it tends drop around 10 to 20 each week because her clients are postponing the work.
Staff Writer Heath Hooper contributed to this report.
