How farmers are handling the heat in South Central Kentucky
SOUTH CENTRAL, KY.- Handling this heat can be difficult for all of us, but a lot of farmers don’t get the luxury of taking a break and enjoying the A-C.
This blazing heat does not stop a farmer’s work of enduring the uncontrollable heat and has a lot of farmers working hard to stay hydrated and produce healthy crops.
Carter Howell, a 3rd generation farmer at Needmore Acres tells us how he felt when he first started farming in the heat. He says, “It’s can be miserable at times. Yeah. I’m kind of over the summer, I kind of build up a little bit of a tolerance to it, but, yeah. It can get rough out there. ”
The current condition of crops is not a problem for farmers right now. Randy Mann, Owner of Seldom Rest Farm shares his experience with farming. Randy says, “It’s not critical. They, need moisture of course, to keep on growing, but they could go a little dry period as we speak. Some of the other soybeans are more mature. They need moisture now. They’re pod filling, and they’re still putting on pods. New blooms. ”
Many local farmers say that without enough rain and moisture, their crops could be negatively impacted.
Carter also shares the effects of not enough rain. He says, “Visibly, it can sunburn them and, like, actually burn the actual fruit. It can if we don’t have enough rain, definitely can be a problem. They get really wilt the plant and they’ll literally, like, dry up and be gone.”
The recent rain can help the current crops however lack of water over a long period can and will determine the outcome of every crop. Randy says, “We needed it going into this dry spell. I think it’s supposed to be dry for the next couple of weeks, and we’ll be okay. Corn needs a little more rain as we go through the heat. When you take a 90 to 100 degrees, it takes a lot of soil moisture out every day. ”
These are just a few farmers sharing their stories, there are thousands of farmers across the commonwealth that need your support. If you see a farmer or know a farmer, show some support.
