Early summer’s drought weighs in on area

Vehicles on county roads already churn up a cloud of dust. Van’Go’photo The weather is always a big issue in a farming community like ours, so the June drought conditions which are affecting central Leon County are already a hot topic (no pun intended). With the Dog Days of summer -- traditionally drier July and August -- still to come, there is definitely cause for serious concern.

National Weather Service Meterologist Gary Woodall reports that Leon County rainfall data shows that the only portion of the countyto receive more than 3/4" of rain in June was the far northern corner, up toward Oakwood. The majority of the county has received 1/4" or less, while the normal rainfall for the month is about 2" to 3", so we are considerably below normal for this time of year. Looking at the last 90 days, the extreme southern and southeast portion of county received 8"-10", but the central portion of the county only got 2"-6", so there is definitely a long-term percipitation deficit. The entire county is below normal and central part of the county is 4" to 6" below normal. "The forecast data doesn't look like there's a lot of relief on the way, unfortunately," Woodall stated. "The 30-day outlook show no real signals for above normal participation and July is already one of our drier months. Looking out three months, there are no signals for either above- or below-normal percipitation.. Hopefully it will begin to level out to a more normal rainfall pattern," the weatherman concluded.

The signs of drought are obvious, even to the casual observer. Many yards and fields have already traded green for a parched, toasted yellow color. Our vehicles wear a coat of dust almost as soon as we drive away from the carwash.

There is a county-wide burn ban in effect. Fireworks have not been banned for the 4th, but Commissioners warn that you ARE liable if your firecrackers cause a fire.

Each year, Buffalo resident Joe Dawkins grows an expansive summer vegetable garden which includes corn, tomatoes, peas, squash, cabbage, peppers and okra, as well as cantelopes and watermelon. The task requires extra diligence this summer, but by watering every other day, Dawkins is getting a good harvest. He notes, "It is a lot drier this year than last, but my garden's still doing good -- as long as I keep it watered."

Mike Heffler has had a small commercial hay operation for the past 23 years, cutting and rolling about 3000- 4000 bales for his clients and his own hay fields. This year Heffler has opted to step down from the hay business, citing his age and mechanical difficulties as factors in his decision. "It's very strenuous," Heffler explained, "You have an emotional as well as a physical side of this business. You're trying to do the best you can for your clients and you're particularly stressed in drought." Hefflernoted that a hay producer spends an average of three gallons of diesel fuel per roll of hay, cutting, raking, and rolling the field. Then there is the cost of twine or net wrap, has gone up tremendously" to $220/67" x 7000' roll, which will wrap about 100- 115 round bales. Factor in the cost of equipment supplies like disc mower blades ($1.25 - $2 each, and good for mowing about 25 acres per side of a blade -- IF you don't run into gopher mounds), sections and rivets for your cycle mower, and grease and oil. "I always went through two cases of grease/year and about 1500 gallons of fuel." There is also a tremendous amount of time spent in maintenance, "if you want your equipment to last long".

Mike Heffler thinks this year's drought is shaping up much like '96, which he describes as "the worst year I ever experienced in the hay business. Extreme drought. We did not have enought preseason rain, and had absolutely NO rain in the summer. Water was getting crucial. We had no hay locally, in this area. I ran out of hay and some neighbors GAVE me hay to feed my 35-40 head." Heffler concluded, "With the current economic conditions and the weather like it is -- it's not looking good."

Local cattleman Charlie Waters concurs. "It's bad. We're needing rain. There's no hay and when it's dry like this people start bringing more cows and calves to market, and the price backs off. A distressed sale is a bad situation, since supply and demand brings the price down. Corn has gotten cheaper, but feed has not come down that much. The price of fertilize has come down a little bit, but I fertilized then only got 2/10" of rain so it didn't do any good. I just opened the gates and let the cows in. This winter we'll either have to buy alfalfa for our winter feed (from Kansas or Oklahoma, where they have gotten a lot of rain), or sell our cattle."

Waters continued, "Year before last was kinda like this. Last year we wound up with hay, but down in south Texas -- Bastrop on towards Yoacum -- it was terrible, and a lot of them went out of business. Those that didn't had to buy all their hay and you saw truck after truck going down the highway loaded with hay. They're in the same situation this year." With a Texan's subtley, Charlie Water concluded, "It's kinda tough, I'll tell you."

And we're only at the start of the summer...