Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 29, 1994 TAG: 9406290116
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The dry weather also is affecting pastures and has halted soybean planting, said Kevin Harding, crop weather reporter for the Virginia Agricultural Statistics Service. But the crop in most serious jeopardy is corn.
``We're getting close to a critical phase,'' Harding said. ``It could go either way. If we get some rain, we should be OK.''
At the end of last week, only 21 percent of the state's corn crop was in good condition, the statistics service said. Forty-two percent was fair, 33 percent poor, and 4 percent very poor.
Topsoil moisture was adequate in only 16 percent of the state, short in 57 percent, and very short in 27 percent.
``We've had six weeks of below-normal moisture,'' said Harold Roller, extension agent in Rockingham County. ``We've gotten showers in the last week to 10 days, and it's given us some relief, but we still need a good, soaking rain.''
Rockingham is among the state's top corn-producing counties, with 35,000 to 40,000 acres planted this year.
``I don't think corn is going to make the normal plant growth,'' Roller said. ``How much that will affect overall yield is hard to say. If we don't get some good rain, it could be as bad as last year.''
The yield last year averaged 60 bushels an acre statewide, nearly 40 bushels below normal.
Nelson Gardner said some of his 250-acre corn crop in Rockbridge County is ``in desperate condition.''
``You need a couple of days of rain to get caught up when it's this hot and dry,'' he said.
He said if the state does not get a good rain this week, corn growers could be in for another bad year. ``It eventually gets to a point of no return,'' he said.
Conditions would be worse if not for the wet winter. The state received above-average precipitation the first three months of the year, said state climatologist Pat Michaels, but the last few weeks have been exceptionally dry.
``We have fairly good subsoil moisture, which is what the plants are living on,'' Harding said.
Michaels said the state's last ``general rainfall'' was May 5. Since then, he said, precipitation has been scattered. One farm might get soaked by a thunderstorm, while another just up the road might get no rain at all, he said.
Since May 5, rainfall totals in Virginia range from 1.75 inches in Richmond to 8 inches at Dulles International Airport, Michaels said. Other totals were 2.89 inches in Roanoke and 3.85 inches in Norfolk.
Last summer, Michaels said, the state went about five weeks without a general rain. That dry spell came later in the summer.
Corn is Virginia's No.4 cash crop, with an annual value of $50.8 million in 1992.
The dry spell also is taking its toll on pastures. Many are in such poor shape that farmers are feeding supplemental hay to their livestock, said Orange County farmer Thomas Graves.
Harding said farmers who plant soybeans on land where wheat or barley has just been harvested - a technique called double-cropping - have found that ``there's not much point in planting,'' because it is so dry.
``A lot of them will hold off until July 10 or 12, and if we don't get a good rain, they just won't plant this summer,'' Harding said.
He said most other crops are holding their own. Most tobacco is irrigated, he said, and peanuts hold up well in dry weather.
by CNB