August 16, 2007

Soaring temperatures, little rain scorching Virginia farms

RICHMOND—It is nothing new in the commonwealth: If it’s late summer, it must be dry in Virginia.

Indeed, the National Agricultural Statistics Service’s Virginia Field Office released a crop summary Aug. 13 which pointed out that 73 percent of the state was “very short” or “short” in topsoil moisture.

According to the summary, “pasture and hayfield conditions continued to deteriorate due to the blistering temperatures. Corn in many areas has begun to dry down. Soybeans are entering a stage where precipitation is critical. Recent spotty showers have helped significantly, but the rain needs to continue consistently to ensure average yields. Cotton conditions have diminished as well because of the extreme heat.”

On Aug. 9, the U.S. Department of Agriculture designated Culpeper, Lee, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Washington and Wise counties as primary natural disaster areas because of continuing drought. The cities of Bristol and Norton, as well as Bland, Buchanan, Dickenson, Fauquier, Grayson, Madison, Orange, Rappahannock, Spotsylvania, Stafford, Tazewell and Wythe counties are also eligible because they are contiguous to the affected counties.

The designation makes qualified farm operators in those areas eligible for low-interest emergency loans from USDA’s Farm Service Agency. Farmers in eligible counties have eight months from the date of the declaration to apply.

According to NASS’ Virginia field office, pastures are the hardest hit from the lack of rain and record-high temperatures. Sixty-nine percent of pastureland in the state is considered to be in “poor” or “very poor” condition, according to the report. Similar designations apply to hay and corn fields.

Much of Northern Virginia, the Northern Neck and the tip of Southwest Virginia are suffering severe drought, while much of central, southern and Southwest Virginia are in a moderate drought. The Roanoke and Norfolk areas are 7.8 inches below typical rainfall levels for the year, while the Washington-Dulles area is more than 9.5 inches below.

“Crop insurance adjusters have assessed some corn at zero to 20 bushels per acre and soybeans at 8 bushels per acre,” reported Scott Reiter, a Campbell County Cooperative Extension agent. “Beef cattle producers are looking for hay or purchasing grain to feed their herds. It is a bleak picture looking at the winter feeding period with a short hay crop and no pasture at the present time. Some farms have been feeding hay for six weeks.”

USDA has made other programs available to assist farmers, including the Emergency Conservation Program, Federal Crop Insurance and the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program.

But as Bob Williamson, who works in the Culpeper office of the FSA, pointed out, farmers are reluctant to take advantage of emergency program loans, since most already carry a significant amount of debt.

Interested farmers may contact their local USDA Service Centers for further information on eligibility requirements and application procedures. Additional information is also available online at http://disaster.fsa.usda.gov.

Meanwhile, the Virginia Department of Transportation on Aug. 10 authorized a temporary waiver of registration and license requirements along with normal weight and width restrictions for the purpose of ensuring essential emergency relief supplies reach the disaster areas in a timely manner. The waiver is in effect until 6 a.m. on Oct. 1 and pertains only to shippers and carriers of hay and feed products in the disaster and contiguous counties.