(Host) Persistent rain this summer has made farming difficult all across the region. And weather forecasters say it doesn’t look like there’s much improvement on the way.
VPR’s Ross Sneyd reports.
(Sneyd) There haven’t been any records set for rainfall this summer. But there’s been plenty of it.
Maureen Breitbach is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
(Breitbach) "It’s just been a lot of days with rain … We had rain on about 16 days last month. So half the month, rain."
(Sneyd) And, it’s never warmed up. Breitbach says the average temperature in Burlington last month was more than one degree cooler than normal.
None of that’s good for farmers. Many have seen their corn stalks turn from green to yellow, unable to get the nutrients they need from a good afternoon of sunshine.
Jackie Folsom of the Vermont Farm Bureau says beef and dairy farmers haven’t been able to dodge the showers and get their hay crops in the barn.
(Folsom) "But also for the vegetable farmers we’re hearing that the crops are wilting under all this rain and with the total lack of sun, it’s really making it difficult for pick-your-own as well as farm stands. So just right across the board it’s a horrendous time to be having a Noah’s Ark type of summer."
(Sneyd) That’s because last summer was even soggier. So farmers were looking forward to a good season this year to help them catch up.
That’s obviously not happening.
There are corn fields under water; tomato crops unable to ripen; and strawberry fields where the fruit rots because people haven’t wanted to pick their own in the rain.
At a time of low milk prices, dairy farmers face the prospect of having to buy a lot of their feed again this year if their crops don’t recover.
Folsom says she’s worried.
(Folsom) "It’s just a continuing saga of bad news for agriculture in this state."
(Sneyd) It might be possible for things to turn around if the weather were to clear in the next week or two.
But that’s not in the forecast.
The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center says the Northeast is expected to have above normal precipitation in July – and below normal temperatures.
For VPR News, I’m Ross Sneyd.