Soggy start to the planting season: Local farmers dealing with heavy rainfall
With a heavy amount of rainfall during the month of May and in early June, many local farmers are being impacted by the rain and are behind schedule.
According to the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh, the region has received 6.11 inches of rain from May 1 through June 9, compared to an average of 4.5 inches.
Jim Lindley, a farmer in Scenery Hill, said the rain has made it difficult to get work done in the field.
“We are behind. We’re probably 10 days behind where we’d like to be,” said Lindley. “We have a stretch through Friday where it’s looking dry, so we’ll have to go gangbusters before it rains again.”
Lindley, who grows corn and soybeans, said he had planned to have all of his crops planted by now, but about one-third of crops remains unplanted.
He spent two nights last week “pulling all-nighters” to get corn planted during a rare dry stretch before he was held off by rain again.
Lisa Wherry, president of the Washington County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, said the excessive rainfall also has disrupted hay cutting for area farmers, which is crucial for those with livestock and for long-term forage stands.
Said farmer Mike Molinar, who produces hay on a 65-acre farm in Avella, “Last year we couldn’t buy a drop of rain; this year we can’t get rid of it. The ground is saturated pretty badly. I need a couple of days to get it dry before I can bale (the hay), and it’s getting old now. It’s to the point where it needs to be harvested, should have been harvested. There’s that point where it goes from good to not-so-good, and that’s where we are.”
Scott Simmons, owner of Simmons Farm in Peters Township, said the wet weather has been challenging.
“We prefer drier weather, mainly because we have the ability to irrigate, so when you get as much rain as we’ve gotten lately, some of our crops don’t do well, especially in certain areas of the farm,” said Simmons.
The rain has had some impact on the planting schedule, especially for sweet corn.
“We have actually kind of stayed on schedule, but we can’t plant everywhere we’d like to,” he said.
The farm’s popular pick-your-own strawberries days continue to draw visitors, but rainy weather has kept crowds down on wet days.
“We always get people saying you’re having a great spring when we get lots of rain, but with as much rain as we’ve gotten, it gets to be too much,” said Simmons.
Mark Duda of Duda’s Farms in Fayette County noted the swing in weather conditions from last summer, when farmers endured long stretches of hot, dry weather.
“It’s been the complete opposite of last year and it’s been incredibly challenging,” said Duda. “When we get a few dry days, we go as hard as we can to get everything done.”
He said the wet weather has not caused any issues with plant disease. The farm is on track to plant pumpkins later this week, and sweet corn is expected to be ready for harvest by July 1, in time for the July 4 holiday. Other crops, including zucchini, green beans, lettuce, potatoes, tomatoes, cauliflower, and peppers, are on track.
Wherry remains hopeful that conditions will improve, recalling the drought-like conditions that developed later last year.
“The weather has certainly been causing us some challenges. Mother Nature is a challenge,” said Wherry. “You have to love farming, and you have to be patient to handle Mother Nature.”