THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 3, 1994 TAG: 9408030390
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JODY R. SNIDER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ISLE OF WIGHT LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
All that's green won't turn to gold for farmers this year.
While July's record rains quenched the thirst of peanuts, cotton and soybeans, corn took an early and brutal beating from the June heat.
The July rain turned corn leaves and stalks green, but the soaking came too late for most corn fields in Western Tidewater, where extremely low yields are expected for a second year in a row.
Corn production also is expected to drop about 25 percent in Virginia Beach, though farmers in Chesapeake, where soils are better able to retain moisture, are predicting an average crop.
The farmers have endured some unusual weather this year.
First came the wettest March on record, followed by the second-driest April.
Then May turned unusually cold, according to National Weather Service.
In June, the fields were bone-dry, scorching young corn before it had a chance to pollinate and produce ears.
Then came July, and a record-breaking 14.37 inches of rainfall across Hampton Roads.
The rains didn't come in time for Isle of Wight farmer Peter Frank Crocker's 650 acres of corn, which might yield 30 bushels per acre.
Usually the yield is 125 to 150 bushels of corn per acre.
``I've been farming 32 years, and I've never had a corn crop fail three times in a row, until now,'' Crocker said. ``The stalks are bare because the corn didn't pollinate.''
Crocker's farm is located in an unusually dry part of the county.
Farmers in Western Tidewater, and elsewhere in South Hampton Roads, are turning their hopes to peanuts, cotton and soybeans.
In Southampton County, the largest peanut-producing county in the nation, the crop drank up the July rains.
``I think the peanuts are going to do well,'' said Southampton Extension Service agent Wes C. Alexander. ``The cotton, about 18,000 acres (in Southampton County) is also doing good.''
Suffolk farmers are expecting a bumper crop ofpeanuts and soybeans this year - 3,000 pounds per peanut acre and 30-bushel soybean harvests, Suffolk Extension Service Agent Clifton Slade said.
Rains also caused a spurt of cotton growth in Suffolk.
``In some cases, the cotton has grown almost two inches per night,'' Slade said. ``It has an excellent yield potential, about 600 pounds per acre.''
But the rains do have a downside, even when they arrive on schedule.
Now, Slade said, ``The challenge is disease and insect control. The disease sclerotinia has been found on two Suffolk peanut farms. If I`ve found two, I've walked by 20. It spreads fast.''
Sclerotinia, a white mold, grows on peanut leaves and robs the plant of oxygen, Slade said.
Windsor farmer Cecil Byrum was spraying his 430 acres of cotton from the air this week, fighting the boll worms eating the plant's buds.
Airborne spraying is expensive, especially when Byrum owns the equipment to do it from the ground.
But the rains have left the soil too wet to support his machinery.
Like most farmers, Byrum is hoping for the best, but won't be counting his cotton until harvest time.
``There's good potential,'' Byrum said. ``But there's no way to make a judgment at this point. It's never in the bank until you harvest it.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
JOHN H. SHEALLY II/Staff
The record-breaking 14.37 inches of rain in July have enhanced the
cotton crop at Robbie Taylor's farm along Route 10 at Benns Church
in Suffolk.
Photo
JOHN H. SHEALLY II/Staff
John Ramsey III displays an ear of underdeveloped corn in Isle of
Wright. The area has been hard hit by a shortage of rain.
by CNB