Soggy spring stalls crops
Posted May 24, 2011 03:52:10 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
If this spring’s damp weather has you down, just imagine how your local farmer feels.
In what has been the wettest spring in memory in more than 50 years, farmers are well behind in the planting on their heavier land. For those who have land with a little more sand as a base, such as Trevor Herrle-Braun of Herrle’s Country Farm Market in St. Agatha, some planting has been possible.
But Herrle-Braun admits that the heavy land has to be worked and, to this point in the spring, it remains largely neglected.
“The field corn acreage is going to be really down because (farmers) have not been able to get it in the ground,” says Herrle-Braun of what is likely the most impacted crop this year. “It’s getting too late to be planting your field corn now. For sweet corn, we try to plant every 3-5 days to extend our season right through the end of October.”
Adding insult to injury was last night’s hail storm, which sent Herrle-Braun into his fields for a crop survey early this morning. He posted pictures of crop damage to his Twitter page. Strawberries, peas and edamame appeared to be the worst hit.
The cruel irony is that peas have been one of Herrle-Braun’s better crops this spring.
“The peas like the cool, wet weather. Same with the spinach,” Herrle-Braun points out, while noting members of his family last remember a spring like this in 1956. “A lot of the other crops really need those heat units.”
Things are little different in our gardens at home. An active user of social media, Herrle-Braun says he was “tweeting” with people this morning who were bemoaning the fact their long weekend’s work in the garden was wiped out by last night’s hail.
For them, and for those anxious for farm fresh produce, Herrle-Braun has a simple message.
“We’re all going to have to be patient with crops,” he sighs. “And be patient with your local farmers. We’ll keep moving along and do the best we can.”
