Extreme weather worries Central PA farmers

• Katie Knol
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Katie Knol was WITF's newsroom summer intern for 2023.
  
  She currently a senior at Penn State University majoring in digital/print journalism and political science. She has also worked at WPSU, The Daily Collegian and CommRadio.

In recent weeks, Pennsylvania experienced continued dryness, uncharacteristically hot temperatures and drifting smoke from Canadian wildfires. 

Pennsylvania has 52,000 farms and 7.3 million acres of farmland, which account for $83.8 billion in direct economic output, according to The Nature Conservancy’s website. With the agricultural industry’s reliance on weather and climate, the extreme conditions are worrying experts and farmers. 

The Canadian smog won’t have a long-term impact on crops — especially since wind dissipated smoke particles, and regional air quality is on the mend. 

However, the heat and drought could be here to stay.

Del Voight, a Penn State Extension agronomy expert in Lebanon County, said farmers he spoke to have been stressed about their income.

“It’s a lot of frustration because we need a good crop in order to pay, to be able to make money — in order to pay the bills just to break even,” Voight said. 

Because of importation, he said, produce prices haven’t gone up yet. It’s good for the consumer, but farmers are making the same amount per bundle despite growing less. 

Voight said each crop responds differently to environmental stresses. 

Common Pennsylvania crops like soybeans and corn could be unaffected once they “get up and growing,” but they need moisture in the early stages of life.  

Grasses, on the other hand, need consistent rain. 

“You probably noticed everybody’s grass turns brown, and they’re probably not relying on their grass to eat, but a farmer is relying on that grass to make hay,” Voight said.  

Less hay would mean less food for livestock. Voight said livestock farmers have had to pull animals off of dry pastures so the fields aren’t damaged and feed them hay they were trying to save until winter. Their hay stores are depleted, and it’ll be hard to replace them in this climate. Farmers might only have one hay harvest this year rather than their usual two. 

Drought also makes crops more susceptible to pests, though they haven’t infested Central Pennsylvania yet. 

Through the summer months, growers will hope for consistent rains for the best production. However, Voight said he’s heard from meteorologists that they’re expecting sporadic rains, which can evaporate within a day.