Farmers: Some crops down 20 to 50 percent

    FINGER LAKES—While the mid-west is suffering through extreme drought conditions, New York has experienced high temperatures and little rain, which has farmers reporting crop shortages between 20 and 50 percent.
    Even with the recent showers, the Finger Lakes’ condition is still considered a moderate drought. According to droughtmonitor.unl.edu, which uses data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Yates County is in a moderate drought. This means some damage to crops, pastures; streams, reservoirs, or wells low, some water shortages developing or imminent; and voluntary water-use restrictions requested.
    Schuyler County is a mixture of moderate and abnormally dry. The website explains this means going into drought: short-term dryness slowing planting, growth of crops or pastures. Coming out of drought will include some lingering water deficits and pastures or crops not fully recovered. Steuben County is mostly just abnormally dry.
    Torrey farmer Harvey Leid said his crops (corn, hay, wheat) are short “at least 50 percent.” He added, “the feed situation is getting pretty bad.” Due to the drought in the midwest, Leid said there is no hay available there.
    “I’ve heard of guys thinking of selling cows,” he added, because of the lack of feed.
    Bergen Farms in Odessa is a dairy farm that also grows crops. Jim Bergen said if there is more rain, he predicts his farm’s crops will be short about 20 percent overall. He said his hay yields were short between 10 and 20 percent during the first cutting and 50 percent short in a second cutting.
    “If we get any rain it could be decent,” he said. “But it’s not going to be normal.”
    Another indicator of the drought’s impact is in the size of corn. Bergen said his corn normally grows between 10 and 12 feet. However, he said this year the stalks are around five to seven feet tall.
    Danielle Hautaniemi, executive director of the Schuyler County Cornell Cooperative Extension, said educator Brett Chedzoy was aware of the drought problems the farmers would face back in March due to the lack of ground saturation from winter snow.
    If the weather conditions continue, Rick Reisinger, owner of Reisinger Apple Farm, said fruit size will be affected. The heat and lack of water have also pushed up the fruit harvest. He explained the apples and other fruits will be ready two to three weeks early.
    One concern Reisinger has is pests. He said with other food sources scarce, pests (from mites to squirrels) see the Reisinger’s fruit as a new food source.