Extreme heat, scant rain causing headaches for Georgia farmers

Lucy Ray has one word to describe how most fields of corn and hay an hour east of Atlanta in Morgan County look right now: “crispy.”

Weeks of above-normal temperatures with little rain has turned lawns brown around metro Atlanta, but the extremely hot, dry conditions are causing more serious problems on some Georgia farms, said Ray, a University of Georgia agriculture and natural resources agent.

The problem appears to be most acute for corn and animal forage crops in the northern half the state.

While many South Georgia farms have access to groundwater wells drilled into the Floridan aquifer to irrigate, those north of the vast coastal plain are generally more reliant on surface water and rainfall to quench their fields’ thirst. And when little rain falls, as has been the case for several weeks, the consequences can be dire.

Justin Williams, the co-owner and manager of WDairy LLC in Madison, about 60 miles east of downtown Atlanta, said his family-run operation grows rye grass, alfalfa and corn to feed their 1,750 dairy cows. But only about one-third of his farmland is under irrigation.

The rest, mostly corn, is at the mercy of what falls from the sky. Lately, he said rain has been nearly nonexistent, calling the recent hot and dry spell something he’s “never quite experienced before.”

“We rely on Mother Nature, but this year, those acres are not going to offer a productive crop, to say the least,” Williams said.

Before parts of Atlanta saw afternoon showers on Thursday, the city had received less than an inch of rain so far this month, according to NWS data, almost three inches less than the June average. Athens has not been much wetter, with only an inch and a half precipitation to date in June.

At the same time, brutal temperatures have sucked moisture from the soil.

Atlanta tied a daily record Wednesday when it hit 100 degrees, and highs so far this month have topped out an average of just under 91 degrees, according to National Weather Service (NWS) data. That’s well above the 87.1 degree daily high considered normal for June over the last 30 years. In Athens, 25 minutes north of Morgan County where UGA scientist Ray is based, highs and overnight lows this month have also been above average.

...continued

swipe to next page