Sparse vegetables and dusty pastures are common sights these days at several Lowcountry farms as an ongoing drought has farmers and agriculture officials worried for the season.
Thomas Legare, a ninth generation farmer on the 301-year-old Legare Farm on Johns Island, is looking ahead to his annual U-pick pumpkin patch, but if things don’t get better, he’s not sure what it will look like.
“We start planting our pumpkins in June,” he said. “But if we don’t start getting some good rain between now and then, we’re going to be in a very serious mess. We’re already in a crisis, but it will get even worse.”
Other U-pick farms in the area are feeling the effects, too. Many of the popular spots and crops are irrigated, keeping the leaves green and fruit plump, but every step between rows of plants kicks up a cloud of dry dust, reminding harvesters of how harsh the weather is for farmers across the state.
‘Pray for rain’
Despite some weekend rain in the forecast for a change, Legare is worried it won’t be enough. For now, his primary concern is his cow pasture.
He said he looks for about an inch of water per week, supplementing rainfall with watering when it falls short. But with how dry it’s been, he hasn’t been able to keep up. Now, the ground is so parched, he worries that heavy rain would run off before it has a chance to soak into the ground. The only thing that might work, he said, is slow and steady rain for several weeks in a row.
“The cows are hurting right now,” he said. “They’re just not getting any grass like they should be due to the lack of water. We don’t have irrigation here, so there’s not a whole lot we can do but pray for rain, I guess.
“I put a little picture up on Facebook that I stole from someone else that says, ‘Pray for rain.’ And I had one woman leave a comment that said she’d do a rain dance for us. Please do. Everything helps.”
Legare said if conditions don’t improve, he’ll have to start feeding his cattle hay instead of relying on natural grazing, an expense he isn’t prepared for as prices continue to rise. And that’s assuming he can find hay at all.
“Most people have run out of last year’s crops, and they haven’t started bailing yet,” he said. “It’s still early in the year for that, so it’s going to be tough to find it.”
In the worst case, he said he’ll have to start selling off livestock.
Historic conditions
The National Weather Service reported March was South Carolina’s third-driest on record, dating back to 1895. And that followed an already exceptionally dry winter. Until last weekend, it didn’t rain at all in April either.
“We’ve kept records for 40 years,” Legare said. “There’s something going on with our weather. Whether you want to call it global warming or climate change, normally this time of year, we would be getting some rain.”
Legare said droughts aren’t uncommon in late summer, in July and August, but the dry conditions this early in the year are unexpected and could have lasting impacts.
Most of South Carolina is in fairly bad shape, said Eva Moore, communications director for the S.C. Department of Agriculture.
“This kind of spring drought is unusual,” she said, adding that most of the state’s 22,000 farms are feeling the impact from the drought.
“Soil moisture is very low right now,” she said. “Some folks have delayed planting in hopes of some rainfall. Cotton and peanut planting is supposed to be going on now, and those who did plant are having to irrigate to make sure their seeds germinate.”
Recovery will take a long time, as the soil is dry “way down,” Moore said. “We’re going to need some pretty significant rain just to replenish the soil moisture. … When the drought ends, that’s when recovery can actually start.”
Even irrigation only staves off the immediate impacts of drought, but secondary effects can still have an impact.
“We just see so many other potential problems across agriculture during a drought,” Moore said. “Plants are stressed by the intense heat and lack of moisture and are more susceptible to disease and insect damage.”
Help on the way
The S.C. Department of Agriculture is encouraging farmers to report their drought conditions to state and federal officials so disaster declarations can trigger some relief. The U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) last week declared a disaster in 30 South Carolina counties, including Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties.
The natural disaster designation allows the USDA’s Farm Service Agency to extend emergency loans to farmers struggling through the drought. Emergency loans can be used to meet various recovery needs including the replacement of essential items such as equipment or livestock, reorganization of a farming operation or to refinance certain debts.
Additionally, the S.C. Senate on April 23 added a measure to the state budget that would give $35 million to farmers in financial assistance. Separate legislation in the state House of Representatives upped it to $50 million.
Legare said he is thankful for the relief that’s available, but is worried about how long it will take to arrive, and if it will be enough or if his livestock-heavy farm qualifies.
“There are some government programs out there, but we don’t know if that’s going to be just for row crop farmers or specialty crops people are growing,” he said. “ I don’t want to have to depend on the state or federal government, but hey, if they’re offering it, I’m not going to say no.”
But the support coming from the statehouse was meant to support farmers struggling from ongoing economic hardships, not the drought. State row croppers have lost about $700 million over the last two years, according to Farm Bureau data. So far, South Carolina farmers have received about $52 million in benefits, according to a public database.
“It’s just going to take a while for the industry to bounce back,” Legare said.
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