Though the streaky and erratic weather has had a noticeable impact on many local farmers, no one seems to be overly worried about this summer’s weather not yet anyway.
By:Brian Shappell
Though the streaky and erratic weather has had a noticeable impact on many local farmers, no one seems to be overly worried about this summer’s weather not yet anyway.
"It’s been a challenging year, as usual," said Butch Jacobsen of Farmer Al’s in Monroe. "If you’re a farmer and you worry, you better quit because you’ll get ulcers. You’ve got to roll with the punches or you’ll just go crazy."
The spring season for local farmers has been more difficult to manage than other early seasons of the past because an early hot streak was followed by an extended cold, wet streak. That streak was followed by the complete lack of precipitation in late April and early May before giving way to nearly two weeks of rainy conditions.
"It sure has been a frustrating spring," said Cranbury farmer Alan Danser, a member of the Township Committee. "We had a wet March and then it stopped for five weeks. Now, it’s like somebody threw a switch again to make it rain every other day."
Despite the problematic spring, these area farmers and others including Cranbury’s Kip Stultz and Kevin White said recent planting and harvesting delays caused by the weather do not mean the farmers will suffer significant financial losses this year. Mr. White said the effect of weather on the farms would be difficult to judge until July at the earliest.
"You can never tell; these things turn pretty quickly," Mr. White said. "I’m not worried yet, though."
Though it has fallen irregularly, total rainfall has not diminished since, according to Keith Arnesen, a faculty member of the Rutgers Meteorology Department.
"People shouldn’t get too worried about short-term dry periods or wet periods because often in the long run that will even out," Mr. Arnesen said.
This year’s total rainfall from Jan. 1 to May 25 has been 17.77 inches, Mr. Arnesen said. The normal rainfall expected for the same period is 17.60 inches.
"If people have irrigation systems, it’s a concern because the costs are higher," he said.
Richard Weidman, program associate for the Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Middlesex County, also said dry conditions in late April and May did not have a severely negative effect on crops throughout the county this year. He said that there were some delays in crops due to heavy rain in early April that caused late spring plantings. Such delays were made worse because of the lack of necessary rain for nearly a month after planting.
The extension serves growers by researching new developments in agriculture, supplying them with research results and performing on-site consultation. Mr. Weidman said the farmers most affected by the erratic weather are ones that deal in crops expected for a certain time of year. Two examples are strawberries, in demand at Memorial Day and weekend strawberry festivals, and sweet corn, traditional fare at 4th of July celebrations.
Mr. Stultz, who offers pick-your-own strawberries on his Cranbury Neck Road farm, said the continuous rain has hurt his strawberry crop because picking was delayed.
"We needed the rain, but one day of it would have been nice," Mr. Stultz said. "When it’s constant for a week, it puts us in more of a bind than the dry weather."
The Stultz farm is one that is prepared to combat the weather, to some extent.
Farmers like the Stultzes, who harvest crops such as tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and watermelons, among others, can plant such product through July.
The Stultz farm also uses an irrigation system that make the farm less susceptible to dry conditions, but increases costs.
Operations set up differently, like Mr. Danser’s farm on Plainsboro Road and Farmer Al’s on Buckelew Avenue, are feeling more of a hit than the Stultz Farm because they deal more in grain crops such as sweet corn and soybeans. They also do not rely on an irrigation system.
Mr. Jacobsen said businesses like Farmer Al’s could lose out on a couple of weeks of business because farms in other parts of the country may not have experienced such erratic weather.
"We’ll lose sales because farmers from other states are going to ship the crops and people will buy them; you can’t recoup those weeks," Mr. Jacobsen said. "It’s not disastrous though. It’s not going to cause anyone to go bankrupt."
Despite all the factors working against them, the local farmers all said it is all just part of the occupation. They also said they don’t fear what the weather brings.
However, he also said farmers are not yet in the clear from drought conditions that plagued the summer of 1999, Mr. Weidman said.
"You never know; the rains have been pretty crazy over the last couple of years," he said. "It’s been tough to manage the extremes."