CHARLESTON, W.Va – After historic drought conditions a year ago, dry weather around the state drew the attention of Agriculture Commissioner Kent Leonhardt in recent weeks, and he believes this week’s rain could help turn the tide.
He says the US Drought Monitor doesn’t show promising results, but data involving this week’s rain isn’t included.
“The data of the new Drought Monitor shows the drought worsening, but the Drought Monitor data starts on information up to Tuesday, September 23, and of course, we’ve had a lot of rain in different parts of the state,” Leonhardt said.
Parts of West Virginia reached D3 and even D4 drought status at the height of last year’s problems, and Leonhardt is hoping the rain this week is the start of avoiding those issues again. He said while a rainy spring helped, a full recovery from last year still hasn’t been made.
“The rains we’re getting now is going to lessen the severity of the drought. We started this spring with a very heavy, wet spring, which helped recharge a little bit from last year, but we were never completely out of last year’s drought,” he said.
Despite the continued concern, Leonhardt is steadfast in his belief that there is a positive outcome available. It may not come right away, but he thinks that more rain can help West Virginia turn the corner.
“It can be a matter of a few days to weeks, depending upon the temperatures. Warm weather helps grass grow. That helps our farmers, so, yes, we can come out of it,” he said.
With many farmers suffering losses due to last year’s drought, the focus is on making sure those outcomes are avoided this time. Leonhardt praised the work done by his office’s state and federal partners to help fund initiatives that make sure West Virginia agriculture is supported.
“We haven’t hit that extremity of drought, and I was grateful for the legislature and the USDA Farm Service Agency for working with the Department of Agriculture and getting funding out,” he said.