THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 22, 1994 TAG: 9406220429
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SARAH HUNTLEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940622 LENGTH: Medium
Scorching sunshine and unusually low rainfall levels are turning up the heat for area farmers, who say the droughtlike weather has destroyed crops and disrupted planting schedules.
{REST} ``We did pretty good those first few weeks when it was cool, in the 70s, but once it starts getting into the 90s, you need a shower a day,'' said Cindy Barnes, who co-owns Baybreeze Market in Virginia Beach. ``We're losing our first crop of corn now. We've already lost our green beans.''
Sweet corn, particularly the plants at the tasseling stage, when they begin to develop ears, will likely be the biggest casualty.
``If corn stays curled up for more than four days, you'll lose about 10 to 15 percent of yield potential,'' said Richard Rhodes, agricultural agent for Chesapeake. ``Some of the corn I've been seeing around here has been curled up for eight days or more.''
Louis Cullipher, director of Virginia Beach's Department of Agriculture, said good soil can store up to three inches of rain, but corn absorbs nearly an inch a week under normal conditions. During its high-growth period, corn can soak in one-third of an inch of water a day, he said.
Some communities haven't seen rain in two weeks. Tuesday's temperatures soared to 95 degrees in Norfolk, three degrees less than the record set in 1933. Meteorologists are forecasting slightly lower temperatures and humidity today, but still no prolonged rain.
``We're in that pattern where we'll get afternoon thundershowers,'' said Scott Stephens, meteorologist with the National Weather Service. ``. . . In terms of a general rainfall, that's not in the cards for as far as I can see.''
Farmers are all the more concerned because there is so little rain so early in the season.
``I've never seen it this dry this early,'' said Billy Shirley, who runs C.W. Shirley Farms in Chesapeake. ``Rain in the next week would be a lifesaver, I'm telling you.''
So far, local reservoirs are holding steady. Norfolk reservoirs are 92 percent full and Portsmouth's lakes are at 95 percent of capacity. The two cities have the largest water-supply impoundments in the area, and they sell water to other municipalities. Suffolk has small reservoirs that fill up fast with a good rain. They are now about 90 percent full.
Nevertheless, farmers are at the mercy of the rain clouds.
Three to 5 acres of corn and half an acre of beans have withered on Barnes' fields on Seaboard Road, and Barnes predicted the business will continue to suffer if the area doesn't get prolonged, soaking rains.
``The dry weather isn't only impacting our crops now,'' she said. ``It's also keeping us from planting crops we'll need later.''
The days of June usually find farmers in the field planting soybeans, but the soil isn't moist enough. Rex Cotten, agricultural extension agent for Surry County, said soybean seeds need nearly half their weight in water to germinate.
``Without the moisture, they'll actually rot,'' Cotten said.
So along the Eastern Shore and throughout Hampton Roads, farmers are abandoning regular planting schedules and reallocating their resources.
``In many cases, the farmers have quit planting soybeans altogether,'' said Jim Belote, agricultural extension agent for Accomack County. ``And when it gets too dry to plant soybeans, it's too dry to plant about anything.''
Instead of planting, workers at the Henley Farms in Pungo are scrambling to irrigate existing crops.
``We've been trying to irrigate, but it's practically impossible to irrigate it all,'' said Barbara Henley. ``It's exasperating to know there's so much work to be done.''
{KEYWORDS} RAINFALL WEATHER
by CNB