The
Rainy Spring of 1996
Michael Hillman
They say farmers always
complain about the weather, but this year they
have a lot to complain about. The winter that
never seemed to end was quickly followed by one
of the wettest springs in recent memory.
According to Joe Wivell, who's been farming
almost 450 acres east of Emmitsburg since 1951,
on a typical year, farmers in this area can
usually count on getting into their fields in
late April or the beginning of May. This year,
however, most were lucky if they were able to
start their spring planting in June. "It
seemed as if almost every other day we had rain
and when the ground did manage to dry out almost
enough to till, it would rain again and we would
be back to square one."
Spring showers soon turned
into summer monsoons and those farmers that were
lucky enough to get their corn crops in,
suddenly found themselves faced with the dilemma
of trying to harvest oats, barley and wheat
crops from swampy fields. Last year most fields
were rock hard by the end of June. This year,
almost every field had some part with standing
water. According to Frank Williams, who's been
custom-farming over 3500 acres around Emmitsburg
since 1966, there are fields even today that
have not to dried. Those farmers who risked
harvesting grain crops early in the spring,
found that the damage done to the field as a
result of the tractors sinking into the mud, far
outweighed the benefit of retrieving the crops.
Like most farmers, Frank
Williams was only able to harvest a fraction of
his spring grain crops. Typically, Frank pulls
in 25,000 bales of straw, this year he felt
lucky to have brought in 5,000. Seventy-five
acres of wheat simply rotted away in the field
and almost 60% of Frank's barley crop were lost.
Other farmers, like Joe Wivell, lost complete
fields of oats, barley and wheat. The late
spring and continuous summer rains also
interfered with efforts to retrieve lush crops
of timothy and alfalfa hay as well.
According to John Davis, who
raises beef cattle and farms 300 acres west of
Emmitsburg, "Every time the conditions were
right to cut hay, the weather man would predict
rain. When the forecast called for clear
weather, you could be sure that it would be
raining the day after the hay was cut." In
the end, Mr. Davis, who on a typical year brings
in almost 15,000 bales of hay, was only able to
make 1,800 bales, less than 15% of normal. Sixty
acres of the nicest timothy he has seen in a
long time just rotted away because the fields
were simply too wet to get into.
The story is pretty much the
same with other farmers in the area. All across
the country fields bare the grim reminder of
weather predictions gone bad. Row after row of
hay cut and raked on sunny days, lay rotting as
a result of unexpected rains. Even as late as
two weeks ago, farmers were still losing vast
fields of desperately needed. Joe Wivell, who
completely lost faith in the weatherman, lost
60% of his hay crop. Hay barns that should be
packed full for the upcoming winter are less
then half full.
In addition, because a lot of
hay fields went unharvested in the spring,
weeds, which are usually kept under control,
have taken over once productive fields. And,
while the weeds have little nutritional value,
farmers are now cutting and bailing out of
desperation. According to Joe
Wivell Jr.,
the weeds and other fibrous plant growth will
provide bulk filler material for the dairy and
beef herds, and what they don't eat, can be used
a bedding.
The mud also played havoc on
the health of the animals. The mud in cow paths
in local dairy farms, always notorious for being
at least ankle deep, could be measure in feet,
not inches. Cases of thrush and mastitis were up
markedly. Local blacksmiths did a booming
business replacing lost horseshoes, often being
called back twice a week to replace the same
shoe. Rain rot and white line disease were
prevalent everywhere.
The one bright spot for our
neighborhood farmers is the corn crop that they
had such a hard time planting in the spring. For
those fields that did not turn into swamps, the
frequent rains of the summer resulted in
spectacular corn growth. Unfortunately, dry
fields were the exception, not the rule this
year, and for some farmers, upwards of 30% of
the corn seed rotted in the wet ground.
Nonetheless, according to both Joe Wivell and
Frank William, the corn harvest is turning out
to be the best in recent memory. While each will
be able to make up some of their losses from
corn surpluses, it will not make up for the
loses in other crops.
To add insult to injury, last
year’s dry summer in the Midwest caused a
significant drop in crop yields, forcing feed
producers to draw upon rapidly diminishing grain
reserves, which has resulted in marked increase
in feed prices. For some farmers, feed has gone
up as much as three to four thousand dollars a
month, while the price farmers get for their
milk remains, in relative terms, at a near
all-time low. If that isn't bad enough, farmers
are having a tough time getting seeds, at any
price, for crops that need to be planted in the
next few weeks. Barley seems the scarcest, but
wheat seed is also in short supply.
At the local farmers co-op,
1997 calendars are the hottest selling item, and
most farmers will not weep long when the new
year is rung in. With the spirit that has made
farmers the backbone of this country, all are
keeping a positive attitude and are looking
forward to a better year next year. Farmers all
around Emmitsburg are taking advantage of the
current good weather and getting an early start
on their fall planting. With the weather as
unpredictable as it has been, don't be surprised
to see our neighbors tilling and seeding their
fields long after most of us have turned in for
the night.
Only winter stands between
the farmers and a rich harvest next spring. And
while last winter was pretty rough, every
indication so far this year is that this winter
will be brutal. The woolly-bear caterpillars,
usually a good indicator of the length and
severity of winter, are woolly and almost
completely black. Worse, they seem to be killing
themselves in mass on Route 15, trying to head
south before the winter hits. If that isn't an
harbinger of the severity of the winter to come,
nothing is.
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other stories by Michael Hillman
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