By Stephen Smoot, The Pendleton Times
FRANKLIN, W.Va. — Pendleton County last week moved from D2 to D3 in drought classification, but according to some farmers, serious damage has already occurred.
Steve Conrad, director of the Pendleton County Farm Bureau, noted that severe conditions have potentially brought significant damage to the corn crop in Fort Seybert and other areas. He also explained that the current Bermuda High weather system established over the Atlantic Ocean through much of this summer will likely continue to pump hotter air into the region from southerly and southwesterly prevailing winds.
The coming of a tropical event such as a hurricane may bring badly needed rain, but the damage might not be correctable at this point.
Farmers from across the county have struggled with the challenges posed by the ninth driest June in 130 years of record keeping. Though the year has seen more rain so far than most others, that precipitation petered out during the essential growth period for most crops.
“He’s on the right track,” says Circleville cattle farmer Zac Smith. “The corn crop, from what I’m seeing, is not doing well. It’s one half of what it should be.” He went on to explain that “as soon as the corn goes to head, it’s not going to expand anymore lengthwise.”
Smith predicted in many areas of the region “a 50 percent yield or less.”
He also stated that he has observed a correlation between warmer temperatures forcing cattle to find shade and an uptick of cases where a plethora of ticks have caused serious health problems in his livestock.
Jessica Hoover, one of Pendleton County’s West Virginia University Extension agents, shared that the WVU Extension website has a “Quick Guide to Drought Management” page that offers important information. The page features “a check list of best management practices for managing cattle through a drought.”