Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 23, 1994 TAG: 9407210011
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
If that's true, this year can be used as a case study.
Farmers and cattle producers around the state are scratching their heads over what has transpired in the past several months.
First, the harsh winter and frequent rain left things really wet.
Then temperatures rose.
In mid-May, after the last frost was supposed to have occurred, temperatures dropped back into the low 30s in many areas of Southwest and Central Virginia.
Now it's steamy hot with widely scattered and infrequent showers.
The unpredictable weather prompted Louis Schiemann, Franklin County's cooperative extension agent, to ask rhetorically, "What is a normal year anymore?"
This year's weather has made for unpredictable crop conditions as well.
Schiemann said it all depends on where a farm is located.
"You can go to one farm [in Franklin County], and the corn will be 15 inches high. You can go to another, and it will be 3 inches. Somewhere else, there's nothing."
That could make it hard for individual counties to acquire disaster relief, Virginia Department of Agriculture field agent John Beahm said, because not all farmers are suffering.
Richard Wampler can run the gamut on his farm in Calloway. He said some sections of his corn crop are growing normally, while stalks have not even sprouted in others.
"It's raining here right now, though," he said while talking to a reporter on the phone about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday. "Looks like it's coming down pretty good."
Riner farmer Henry Sink still was waiting for a good rain Wednesday. He said it rained hard last week on both sides of his farm but not in the middle.
Hot temperatures also have curbed dairy production.
Allen Sisson, a farmer in Shawsville, said he's trying to combat the situation by putting all 100 of his dairy cows inside a barn during the day and spraying them with water.
Beahm said pasture loss related to the weather could force cattle producers to sell feeder animals before they reach more profitable weights, driving market prices down.
"People are concerned right now," Beahm said.
Most farmers say they lost 25 to 40 percent of the first cut of hay because of the weather.
Sisson said he has rented another farm to provide additional feed for his cattle.
For now, though, farmers cling to the hope of a steady rain.
"If it doesn't rain in the next 10 days, I've got 120 acres of corn that will amount to nothing," Sisson said.
by CNB