By J.A. Bolton
Special to CCN
Unless you have been in another part of the country this spring you know that North Carolina and the Southeast are in what seems to be a long-term drought. In North Carolina over three quarters of our one hundred counties are in moderate or extreme drought conditions.
With very little rainfall since last fall our yards are turning brown, and lakes, rivers and ponds are very low all over the state.
It seems with this high inflation and droughts it’s about to bring on a perfect storm for a lot of our farmers. Farmers have always been a resilient group of people but with only slim profit margins that can only last so long, what are our farmers supposed to do?
Just a few things that farmers must deal with this year consisting of high tariffs on other countries for our country’s soybean production, prices of fuel-oil going up, fertilizer prices rising, higher equipment prices and now the drought is causing most farmers to look forward to a lean year. The truth is without some help most farmers can’t take but a few lean years to be out of business altogether.
Drought has always been a factor for farmers. The great Dust Bowl in the 1930s proved that. No type of farming can withstand long without some type of water. Cattle farmers must have water for their pastures and hayfields. Row crop farmers must have some type of irrigation to raise their crops. Low moisture in April can impact pollen and nectar, causing our bees to make less honey.
It seems that strawberry, grape and sometimes peach farmers have better years with less rainfall. Less rain causes the fruit to taste sweeter, and they hold up better while shipping.
With the present drought and the weatherman not calling for any soaking rainfall, our cities and towns are putting restrictions on their water usage because reservoirs are getting dangerously low. Folks that have their own wells would be smart to cut back on their usage also. It’s a bad feeling when your pump keeps running and no water comes out.
North Carolina and other southern states have burn bans in effect, and you certainly don’t want to pay the fines. The N.C. Forestry Service and local fire departments are on high alert for wildfires.
Seems like every time the N.C. Drought Advisory updates comes out more counties are added into D3 or Extreme Drought classification.
Some weathermen say that we are as much as eight inches to a foot behind on our yearly rainfall.
So, what do scientists say causes our drought conditions? A month-long rainfall deficit didn’t just happen by chance. One factor was a large-scale climate pattern known as El Nino. One of the phases of the El Nino (the La Nina) developed last fall and persisted through the winter, a set-up that often favors drier than normal conditions across the southeast.
Now I’m just a storyteller and country boy, meaning that I don’t know much about El Nino. But I do know the weather seems to be getting hotter and its dryer than a dog’s bone in my little corner of Richmond County. Why, I haven’t even cut my grass cause it’s dying and feels right crunchy. My garden I planted several weeks ago is not coming up as it should even though I watered it twice. It’s hard to water dust with a two-inch water hose.
So, what are we supposed to do about the drought? First, we need to get on our knees and ask the Good Lord if it is his will that he will send us some much-needed rainfall. Meanwhile we need to limit our water usage. Things like limiting your time in the shower, cutting back on watering our lawns and gardens, don’t wash our vehicles as much, repairing any water leaks and cutting the water off when you are shaving or brushing your teeth. These little things do add up.
A friend of mine said that he takes a fifty-five-gallon drum to the river, fills it with water and brings it home to water his garden and plants.
If you are a farmer bout the only thing I can advise you to do is to dig them waterholes a little deeper.
J.A. Bolton is author of “Just Passing Time,” “Southern Fried: Down-Home Stories,” “Sit-A-Spell,” “Early Years at Blewett Falls,” and co-author of “Just Passing Time Together,” all of which can be purchased on Amazon or bought locally. Contact him at ja@jabolton.com
