As I prepare this column, it looks as if it will start raining at any minute. Most of you will say that there is no doubt that it will rain; the county fair is in town. So far this week, the weather has been great for the county fair. As I prepare this column, it has not rained on the fair, but I am willing to bet by the time you read it, the fairgrounds and, hopefully, the entire county will be wet.

The weather has cooled off some as well. It is more like fall weather and more like county fair weather.

The lack of rainfall during the past several months is now getting serious. You have probably seen the news reports that some of the major cities in North Carolina are implementing mandatory water restrictions. Citizens will not be allowed to wash cars, water lawns, or other nonessential water-use activities.

We are fortunate that the serious drought did not occur during the summer. Although it has been drier that normal this entire year, most areas of the county did receive occasional showers that allowed crops growing in the field to achieve fairly good yields.

Summer showers allowed most corn, cotton, and tobacco fields to do fairly well. Those areas of the county that did receive rain will have average or better than average yields, but those areas of the county that did not receive enough rain will have very poor yields. In fact, the yields in some of our corn fields will be so bad that they will probably not be harvested.

The few summer showers we did receive were more beneficial for corn and tobacco. Tobacco produces leaves and corn develops and fills an ear during the summer.

Soybeans and cotton will be most severely affected by our late summer drought, and yields for both of these crops throughout the entire county will be much less than average. Both of these crops produce a plant during the early summer. Soybeans set pods and cotton sets bolls by mid-summer. But both of these crops must have plenty of sun as well as plenty of rain during the late summer. Soybean plants fill the pods out and cotton plants fill the bolls out during the late summer. Without sufficient water, yields for both of these crops will be severely affected.

The drought situation we are in now has not just occurred this summer; it has been getting progressively worse for the past couple of years. In Robeson County, we normally receive about 46 inches of rain each year. For the past two years, we have received more rain than this, so you would think that we have received more rain than we really needed. However, for both of the past two years, we have had very active hurricane seasons and have received a large amount of rainfall in August and September. When rains come like this, most of the water runs off and flows down the river instead of soaking into the ground and recharging our groundwater supplies.

Normally, by the end of August each year, we should have received about 34 inches of rainfall. This year, we received only about 29 inches or about 5 inches less than normal. During the entire month of September, we have received very little rainfall at all.

If you will notice the low-water level in the Lumber River and in many of the farm ponds across the county, you will see evidence of severe drought conditions. Water levels in both the river and in ponds are much lower than they have been in years.

We need some rain. Hopefully, we will receive some frequent showers during the next several months that are not associated with hurricanes. It may be an inconvenience for the county fair, for farmers trying to harvest cotton and peanuts, or for fishermen trying to catch spots, but it will still be welcomed.

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 10/10/05