Jul
30
Written by:
lifbblogger
7/30/2009 1:05 PM
The challenges of farming continue this season. August is upon us already, yet the weather has not straightened out as a normal Long Island summer is typically hot and dry. This year is cool and very wet. The first summer that I can remember that we didn’t have one-day reach 90.
Almost all commodities have had some damage including potatoes, vegetables, vineyards – pretty much everything. NY State Agriculture Commissioner Pat Hooker was down from Albany this week to tour area farmers to visually inspect the various types of damage. With potatoes and vegetables there are areas in fields where the plants were under water and won’t be harvested, disease problems from fungus and bacterial disease are everywhere. Many farmers will have gaps in plantings when the fields were to wet to plant weekly, like sweet corn. Tomatoes, peppers and many other vegetables are way behind in making fruit and less fruit on a plant. That is the case with wine grapes, a very poor set of fruit on a vine. Some fields/blocs will be off 50-70% of a normal yield.
Farmers are eternal optimists so it’s too early to tell how the final numbers will be. A lot of season to go yet. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and allow the industry to recover economically the rest of the season.
One reason Commissioner Hooker was here is to report to the Governor on the conditions in the “field” as to the types of damage. The Governor has request from the Secretary of Agriculture that New York State Counties including Suffolk be eligible for disaster relief. Generally that means lower interest loans to tide farmers through bad times. I personally am annoyed that when other natural disaster areas are hurt government programs include outright grants to affected individuals. It seems that our farmers are low men on the totem pole when it comes to assistance. I guess we need to squeak louder to Senators Schumer and Gillibrand and members of Congress to get the grease.
Cheaper interest on loans is help, but still puts farmers in deeper debt. Hopefully the balance of the season will be good in production and price so that won’t happen. In the Ukraine they have a saying, the definition of a pessimist is an informed optimist. We’ll stay optimistic regardless; it’s the Long Island Farmer’s Way!
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