For the past several years, by this time of the year I have been writing about how dry it is and how many problems the farmers are having because of the lack of groundwater. There is no doubt that this year is much different. For the first time in many years, we have an abundance of water at planting time.

The problem now for most farmers, and for many homeowners as well, is that we have far too much water. We have been receiving good rainfall throughout the winter and spring, and there is so much water in the ground that it is difficult or impossible to get into the fields to do the work that is needed.

Another problem that began to affect quite a few of our farmers during the past week is that during this time of the year rainfall is often accompanied by severe thunderstorms with lightning, wind, and hail. We have experienced all of this during the past week, and our farmers experienced pretty severe losses from winds and hail.

Even those who are not farmers were not spared. Many people had hail damage to homes, vehicles, trees, gardens, and anything else that was outside. Others had a lot of wind damage.

There is no way to truly measure how weather-related disasters affect different people. Without a doubt, they all suffer the losses. But I am always especially sympathetic to farmers who are victims of storms of any kind.

When hail and wind storms cause trees to fall, even if into a house, those trees can be quickly removed and most often the house can be repaired. When hail causes severe damage to a vehicle, even if it breaks out all the windows, the vehicle can be repaired and most times insurance will pay for the repairs. When excessive rains cause flooding, it may create an inconvenience for some of us and it may even cause some damage to our homes or property, but this too can be repaired or cleaned up.

But losses from weather-related disasters create entirely different problems for farmers. Most times what is damaged or destroyed is their livelihood. They may have insurance to cover a portion of what they lost, but the income they had anticipated from their crops can never be recovered.

The storms last weekend in several areas of our county caused rather severe damage to many crops. Some of the crops that were damaged were already late because wet soils had delayed field preparation and planting. The farmers were praying that they would have decent weather for the next several months, and these crops would catch up. Now, they are even further behind, because many fields will need to be replanted and will be even further behind.

Some fields of wheat were not destroyed but were severely damaged. The winds caused the wheat to fall over, which will prevent the seed head from fully maturing and will make it extremely difficult to harvest. These fields cannot be replanted; the farmers will simply salvage what they can from the fields.

Many fields of small tobacco plants were shredded to pieces. All that was left in the field was little stumbles where the plants were. These fields will definitely have to be replanted. The problem is that many farmers will not have enough plants left in their greenhouses to replant what is needed. They will be forced to seek plants from other areas of the tobacco-growing region that have not experienced weather or disease problems.

Insurance is available for many of the crops that are planted in the county. High-value crops, like tobacco, are almost always covered by insurance. But again, this insurance only covers a portion of what was lost; it does not provide for the lost income that the farmer will face. Income that will be needed to pay other bills and to provide for his family for the remainder of the year.

For many low-value crops, like wheat, corn, and soybeans, the cost of this insurance is so high that many farmers cannot justify the expense. They must simply take the risk.

Specialty crops, like some of the vegetables that are grown in the county, are not eligible for insurance. Those growing these crops must assume the full risk when they plant. Thankfully, severe losses are uncommon, but when they do happen, they can have a devastating effect on the farmer.

There were several major vegetable farms in the county that experienced severe hail damage last weekend. The timing of this damage could not have been any worse. Many of the vegetables were just approaching the point they could be harvested, and because of abundant rains, they were the best looking crops the farmers had seen in recent years.

Hail damage is especially devastating to vegetables. Some crops can experience leaf damage and still produce a seed. Some crops can be damaged by hail, and then resume growing and still produce a crop. But when hail damages vegetables, it damages what is being sold for human consumption. Even if the vegetables are not completely destroyed, they are often damaged to the point that quality and appearance is affected so severely that the products cannot be sold.

The vegetable farms that were damaged last weekend now look like tossed salad farms. All plants were completely shredded and scattered across the rows. Ripe, juicy strawberries were turned to mush and mixed with the sand. Grapevines were shredded, and peach trees were stripped of their leaves and tender young fruits. Even the fruits not stripped from the trees were speckled with wounds which will attract insects and diseases. For this year at least, they are a total loss.

All of us, farmers as well as nonfarmers, know that we could be victims of severe weather problems at any time. It could be a severe drought, too much rain, tornadoes, hail and wind storms, or even a hurricane. We try to prepare ourselves, but as hard as we try, we are never totally prepared. We were reminded of that last weekend.

E-mail address: Everett_Davis@ncsu.edu

Mailing Address:
P. O. Box 2280
Lumberton, NC 28359-2280

Phone: 910-671-3276
Fax: 910-671-6278

Date Created 5/20/03