Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 20, 1993 TAG: 9303200184
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
IN FARMERS' FIELDS, IT'S STILL WINTER
A WEEK AGO, it snowed. Today, spring begins. The late winter weather has delayed plowing and planting for some farmers, but for the most part, the precipitation is welcome.By this time last year, the thermometer already had peaked at 80 degrees twice, Mark Goode had all his fields plowed and the spring oats were in the ground.
Work on his Bedford County dairy farm was right on schedule.
This year is a different story.
In the wake of last weekend's blizzard, Goode said he hasn't even begun plowing in preparation for the spring planting season. Nor has he sowed the first oat.
"It's been too wet to do anything in the field," he said.
So, Goode has stayed busy with other farm chores on the Double-Good Farm he runs with his father, Benny Goode, on Virginia 714 about 10 miles outside Bedford. He said there is always plenty to do.
But the heavy snow, combined with a wet winter even before the storm, has left his plows idle. Rainfall for the year so far is 4.5 inches above normal.
"You can't get traction. Your tractor tires will slip. You can even get stuck if it's too wet," Goode said.
Typically, he likes to have all the fields on their 450-acre farm plowed and ready for planting by the first of spring. He also prefers to have spring oats in the ground.
"This has everything delayed. We're just on hold."
Goode estimated that his fields need about three weeks of warm, dry weather before they will be ready for plowing. The delay does not pose a problem, however - at least not yet.
"It's more . . . annoying would be a good word," he said.
On Bent Mountain in Roanoke County, it is a little early for field work. So, the late winter hasn't been a factor. "It really hasn't hurt yet," said Carson King, a longtime cabbage and vegetable farmer.
"Up on Bent Mountain, you don't plant vegetables until April."
He said some farmers like to start plowing about now, but a few more weeks shouldn't make much difference. Later planting will just mean that the early cabbage will be late this year.
King said what could be more important is how the spring and early summer weather shapes up. "You need a lot of hot weather and sunshine to grow vegetables," he said.
In fact, the wet winter really has been ideal. He said the soil is primed. "It's good to have this moisture. We needed it in the ground."
Apple grower Barry Kinzie in Troutville agreed. Although the wet winter and last weekend's blizzard has set him behind on tree pruning, he said the rain and snow have been a blessing.
"Of course it has slowed down our outside work. I'd say we've had more water than we need," he said. "But we would rather have more than enough than too little."
Worse - at least for apple growers - would be a deep freeze when the trees are in full bloom, Kinzie said. Normally, his trees bloom in April, but they haven't even started to bud yet.
Nor has Russell Mackinheimer's tobacco started to germinate on his farm in the Sontag section of Franklin County. At least he has seeded his tobacco beds, though.
He got that out of the way last month. Other tobacco farmers he knows didn't get that far before the late winter snow. "I feel like I'm one of the lucky ones," he said.
The snow has hampered his efforts to properly cover the seed beds, however. Mackinheimer likes to cover his beds with plastic. "The plastic holds out the wind and cold, and the moisture from the ground comes up to make the seeds germinate faster.
"But it hasn't been seasonable for that kind of work," he said.
Now, he would like to see some true spring weather, with high temperatures in the 50s and 60s, or even warmer. If the cold continues, he said it could pose a problem on down the line.
"If it gets too late, it causes your crop to be late in the field, and then you're late in the fall getting the tobacco harvested and sent to market."
Relief for Mackinheimer and his fellow farmers could be on the horizon, however. The National Weather Service is calling for a cool week this week, with highs in the 40s, but it should be dry. No rain is in the forecast.
Temperatures should be warming into the 60s by next weekend.
Said Mackinheimer: "That's good news."