Farmers look to disaster declaration
for relief from drought, high costs
 |
| Got milk? Rockbridge County’s three-year drought has affected local dairy farmers, resulting in climbing milk prices across the state. (Caroline Davis/Rockbridge Report) |
Mother Nature has a dry sense of humor.
But as Rockbridge County consumers and farmers continue to grapple with a three-year, county-wide drought, the joke falls flat.
“This drought is affecting every farmer in the county,” said area farmer Charlie Leech.
Rockbridge County Extension Agent Jon Repair says last year’s rainfall was nine to 14 inches below normal. This year is almost as dry – about six to 10 inches below so far. Officials also blame the drought on snowfall deficits from the past few years.
The county took steps to get state and federal help last week.
The county Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Sept. 9 to ask the state to declare the Rockbridge area a drought disaster. If the request is approved by Gov. Tim Kaine, the county will provide qualified farmers with state and federal assistance.
How much can farmers expect?
“The county will not know an amount until it is received,” Repair said. Repair is responsible for compiling the county’s current drought conditions in the draft resolution for relief.
Assistance is not always guaranteed.
“It really depends on how many other counties jump on the bandwagon,” he said.
But drought isn’t the farmers’ only problem. Many are also feeling the pinch from spiking fuel costs and climbing prices of grain.
“Everything’s dependent on each other,” said Repair. “That’s what makes it really tough.”
Local dairy farmer Tom Alexander agrees.
“High prices have made this a double whammy,” Alexander said. “Be thankful for the milk you’ve got.”
While some consumers can manage to go without their milk, the farmers awaiting precious drops of rain to sustain their livelihood are struggling.
“Lack of ground water really is the issue,” said Leech. “The springs are low, the creeks are dry. But the biggest problem with this drought is that it just keeps going.”
While Rockbridge County has been hit hard, the county is not suffering through the drought alone.
“It’s pretty widespread,” said Jimmy Alexander, who runs Cherry Grove Farm near Fairfield with his brother, Tom. “This drought starts in Alabama and goes all the way to the lower Shenandoah Valley.”
This year the drought has already destroyed 45 percent of the crop the Alexanders use to feed their cows.
“If the farmers lose more than 50 percent of their crop,” said Repair, “it is considered a complete loss.”
Tom Alexander hopes they will hear back about the federal and state assistance by December. But he’s not crossing his fingers.
“I don’t really sit around waiting for it,” he said. “You have to make it on your own. If the government assists you, it does. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t.”
The Alexanders’ farm ordinarily yields 270 acres of corn, with 100 of those acres set aside for feed or their cows. This year they were forced to use the entire crop for grain.
“It’s been really bad,” said Repair. “The more these farms are beat up, the harder it will be for them to survive.”
The situation at Leech’s Ingleside Dairy Farm hasn’t been much better. Leech said the farm would spend $100,000 more than usual this year to feed his cows.
“We’ve spent a lot of money on watering the crops – it’s about $20 an hour for irrigation,” he said. “We didn’t have a whole lot of choice.”
Ingleside Farm received some relief after the tail end of hurricanes swept through the county in recent weeks. But it wasn’t enough.
“[The hurricanes] helped wake up some of the grass before it completely died,” said Leech. “But the corn was pretty much too far gone when those rains came.”
For a rare few, the drought has spun a different story.
Ten days of heavy rain in the springtime spared Paul and YoungSuk Estabrooks’ Asian pear farm, Virginia Gold Orchard.
“That really saved us,” said Paul Estabrook. “It was close, but the drought hasn’t hurt us. If we didn’t have that soaking rain it might have.”
The Estabrooks are no strangers to weather-related strife. They had their own share of losses in 2007 when late-spring frosts almost destroyed the entire Asian pear crop.
While there’s no end to the drought in sight, most farmers are just tackling one day at a time.
“Everything has a way of working itself out in few years,” said Tom Alexander. “We’ll just have to weather out this storm.”
Leech, on the other hand, is already making plans to thwart potential drought losses for next season. He plans to plant more corn in 2009 than he has this year.
And for now, he’ll maintain his optimism.
“At least the rain [from the hurricanes] made our yard get green again,” he said, laughing. “You’ve just got to make the best of the situation. That’s about all you can do.”
Produced by
Washington and Lee
journalism students.
Lead Supervisors:
Prof. Brian
Richardson
Prof. Indira Somani
Editing supervisor:
Prof. Pamela Luecke
Reporting Supervisors:
Prof. Doug Cumming
Prof. Indira Somani
Technical supervisor: Michael Todd