MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — With temperatures reaching the triple digits in the Eastern Panhandle this week, residents are feeling the drought conditions, especially farmers, orchardists and other producers who depend on water.
The greater Eastern Panhandle, along with other parts of the state, have gotten less than rain than usual for a few months of the growing season, according to West Virginia Agriculture Commissioner Kent Leonhardt.
“We’re down about 2.5 to three inches in the Eastern Panhandle in June. We’re down about 2 plus inches so far in July,” he said.
It is especially dry in the Eastern Panhandle, Leonhardt said.
“Right now the dryness in Jefferson County is the second worst in 130 years and Berkeley County and Morgan County it’s the third worst in 130 years,” Leonhardt said. “This is is a little more serious than we’re used to seeing.”
Leonhardt said if the drought conditions continue, it will continue to impact producing crops as well as those making hay for livestock.
“This is going to hurt second and third cutting of hay,” he said. “We’re going to end up with, maybe not as much volume. It’s one of those variables that we can’t control.”
Leonhardt said one saving grace may be the precipitation that came at the beginning of the growing season, but the effects of the ongoing dry spell may not be known until the crops are in. He encourages farmers and producers to look into crop insurance and signing up for programs through the USDA Farm Service Agency “so if a disaster is declared, there may be some help later on. Some farmers do purchase crop insurance.”
For future mitigation efforts, Leonhardt said farmers and producers can improve their soil health to impact water retention. “The more organic matter in that soil, the more water is retained and the less severe these conditions in the future.”
Leonhardt said agriculturalists across the state are doing what they can.
“Hopefully, most of our farmers are doing these sorts of things,” he said. “And we’re praying for rain.”
Sixty-percent of the state is experiencing drought conditions.