Farmers cautious of how present drought circumstances will have an effect on operations | Agriculture

The drought monitor is a joint effort involving the National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Areas experiencing a severe drought include Urbana, New Market, Walkersville and Mount Airy.

While parts of Frederick County experienced measurable rain just this past weekend, that doesn’t mean areas experiencing drought are suddenly in the clear, said Katie Stevens, director of workforce development and agriculture business for Frederick County.

Drought status takes into account heat and rain over a period of several months rather than just a few weeks, Stevens said. She emphasized that land needs continuous rainfall over time instead of sudden downpours in order for the water to be fully absorbed into the ground.

“It’s still benefiting us but not farmers as much,” Stevens said. “We need a nice, steady rain so that the ground can soak in the rain, which benefits our crops.”

Lisa Gaver, the farm market manager and office manager for Gaver Family Farm near New Market, said most of the rain from this previous weekend missed their farm, where they experienced no measurable rain.

Due to the lack of rain, Gaver said more time, energy and expenses go into trying to sustain and save crops by regularly watering them.

“You’re using a lot more resources trying to sustain your crop, but in the end, raining is best,” Gaver said. “We are planning and doing our best like all farmers, moving forward and hoping we get enough moisture to make a crop.”

Denny Remsburg, president of the Frederick County Farm Bureau, said the drought can also affect livestock and cattle on farms. Without enough water, there’s a higher chance of livestock grazing pastures too closely. This can affect pastures’ regrowth, he said, and result in pastures dying.

There’s also multiple crops, such as corn and soybeans, that may be notably affected by the drought, according to Stevens.

“For corn, we’re at that time right now where pollination is very close and determining what the corn yields will be,” she said. “Those yields depend on heat and dry stress, so dry stress is obviously going to reduce that yield. … What’s happening now will 100% affect the corn crop this fall.”

Maryland Secretary of Agriculture Kevin Atticks said based on concerns farmers have told him, being in a drought so early in the season has many worried, even those whose crops tend to do well in drought.

Atticks said he believes the cause of this early season drought comes from shifting weather patterns. Last year was a reasonably wet year in Maryland, he said, and to shift to a dry year is a sudden change.

“Farmers have always been in the business of anticipating weather patterns. When they see trends, they’re able to select seed sources … that will do well with respect to the condition they’re seeing,” Atticks said. “But when you have swings like this of one year very wet, one year very dry, it’s difficult to anticipate that and difficult to plan for it.”

A drought watch has been issued for Western Maryland and parts of Central Maryland due to a lack of precipitation during the spring, leading to below-average stream flows and groundwater levels, according to a statement from Maryland Department of the Environment spokesperson Jay Apperson.

“We are asking residents and businesses to pay particular attention during the summer months when the state can experience hot and dry conditions. You can do your part by limiting the use and duration of sprinklers for lawns, taking short showers as opposed to baths and not leaving the faucet running while brushing your teeth,” Apperson wrote. “These things sound simple, but it all adds up.”