After an exceptionally dry spring, North Carolina’s farmers are in need of several timely rains. According to state corn extension specialist Ron Heiniger, “that’s like trying to hit the perfect lotto numbers.”
Such precision when it comes to the weather usually isn’t required for a successful crop, but most of the state is experiencing severe or extreme drought, which has created a touch-and-go situation for farmers.
Some precipitation last month offered some relief, but not enough to ease the effects of the drought significantly, Heiniger told Carolina Public Press.
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“Basically, we’re hand to mouth,” Heiniger said. “We just need to keep steady rain events going in order to get through this.”
Many farmers waited to plant their crops for as long as possible, hoping to stave off the worst consequences of dry soil and limited groundwater. That delay will have knock-on effects, Heiniger said.
For example, critical pollination periods for corn and soybeans will happen during the peak temperatures of July, which reduces the efficiency of pollination. It will also push harvesting back and increase the risk of running into devastating storms in August or September. Together, those factors could mean lower yields.
Heiniger is based out of Washington County in the northeastern part of the state. This year, he said, farmers up and down the Coastal Plain are betting that their corn yields will be bountiful enough to carry them through the year, despite the dry weather and other economic pressures like high prices for gas and fertilizer.
The drought has been most intense in the upper Piedmont region, where many areas didn’t receive the same levels of precipitation in May that other rain-needy places did.
Hydrologist Klaus Albertin, who chairs the state’s Drought Management Advisory Council, told CPP that communities north of the Piedmont Triad and Research Triangle received only half an inch of rain a few weeks ago, compared to the two or three inches that fell elsewhere in the state.
“Instead of picking up good rainfall and raising the reservoirs, it actually was another two weeks of below-normal rainfall,” Albertin said.
That lack of moisture has been felt by farmers in Alamance and Orange counties, according to Alex Kissinger, the livestock and forage specialist for that area.
“We’ve not received a significant amount of rain since August of last year,” Kissinger said.
Hay yields are fractions of what they typically should be, he added, which has forced cattle farmers to cull their herds or sell off some of their animals.
Heat and dry weather has also affected local tobacco and strawberry farms, according to Jonathan Smith, who leads the extension offices in Orange and Alamance counties. Some have combatted the drought by irrigating their crops, although the ponds which capture water for that purpose are running low.
“The weather has not been great this spring for anything,” Kissinger said. “You have frost, then you have heat, then you have no rain, and it’s the perfect storm.”
Water use restrictions
The drought has touched other aspects of daily life in North Carolina. Some utilities have instated water-use restrictions. Low lake levels and heightened wildfire risk have impacted outdoor recreation.
Charlotte Water, which draws from two lakes along the Catawba River to provide drinking water for 1.2 million people, put mandatory water-use restrictions in place on May 15 after low inflow from the Catawba began to impact water supply.
Under the restrictions, Charlotte residents are not permitted to wash their cars at home, fill their swimming pools or operate decorative fountains. They are only allowed to water their lawns in the evening on an alternating schedule.
The last time Charlotte Water instated mandatory restrictions was during the period of drought between 2007 and 2009.
Charlotte Water spokesperson Jennifer Frost told CPP that the area was originally in a “free fall” toward tighter restrictions, but rainfall in recent weeks took them off that trajectory. Still, it’s not clear when the current restrictions might be lifted.
“We’re preparing our customers to be in a drought at least through June,” Frost said.
Previous forecasts suggested that the drought could last through the entire summer, but some climatologists now think that the dry spell could break with heavy rains later in the season, according to Frost.
“That might help us, because, not only do we need rain, but we need an excess of rain right now,” she said.
Charlotte Water isn’t the only utility that instated water-use restrictions. Communities across the Catawba-Wateree River Basin have implemented similar restrictions, including Hickory, Morganton and Gastonia.
Raleigh, which pumps its water from three nearby lakes, has also put restrictions in place.
Dry weather increases fire risk
The dry weather has heightened wildfire risks across the state, according to the N.C. Forest Service. All 100 counties were placed under a burn ban earlier this year before it was lifted in the first week of May.
Summer typically brings less wildfire risk as vegetation turns green and becomes less flammable, according to Forest Service spokesperson Philip Jackson.
That doesn’t mean the threat is gone, however, and continued dry weather raises the possibility that fires will spread out of control. The vast majority of North Carolina fires are caused by human activity, Jackson said.
Having situational awareness and a nearby water source, and checking to make sure that a fire is completely extinguished before leaving the area can reduce the risk.
Jackson emphasized that it will take time for the effects of the drought to ease.
“One rainstorm here that brings one inch or two inches isn’t going to do it,” he said.
“Some of these places still need anywhere between a foot of rain or possibly more to get back to square one.”
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