Dairy farmers and livestock feed producers are scrambling to make up for lost time after two months of downpours that soaked fields and pushed back planting.
April and May, usually the months when farmers are really kicking into seasonal gear, brought with them a wave of rainfall that soaked farms across the state in spurts and often made field work almost impossible.In May alone, New York farmers reported only 11 full days with workable weather, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported at the time.
Inordinate cold and overcast fronts meanwhile slowed evaporation, leaving fields wet for prolonged periods.
“The weather has been pretty prohibitive,” said Paul Peters, who grows feed on his farm in Castleton. “We’re a good month behind where we’d like to be.”
For dairy farmers, who in recent years have been hemorrhaging cash due to stagnating milk prices and an uptick in exports from European producers, the onslaught of rain couldn’t come at a worse time — especially after last year’s historic drought.
For Peters, this year is just one of a multitude of punches to his wallet in the last few years. He recently moved out of the dairy trade after a 2013 fire destroyed his barn and killed 20 calves and heifers.
Now he deals primarily in seed. But that too has been difficult. Thus far this year the rain has kept him mostly out of the field, leaving his hay uncut and unprepared for baling.
The recent hot spells have helped dry out some of his hay, he said. But “it’s still hit and miss, and I’m just trying to get things done.” he said Thursday, noting another rain storm that was forecast for a few hours later.
“It’s been kind of a struggle.” he said. “…The quality of the feed diminishes with every day that you’re not able to get that cutting in.”
Source: Times Union
Link: http://www.timesunion.com/business/article/Dairy-farmers-feed-producers-reeling-after-11239543.php