June 13, 2005
Blame it on the rain | Last month's lousy weather may spell trouble for the state's farmers
By Rebecca Lamet
Rick Belanger spent much of early June sorting and bagging potatoes that were grown at the Belanger Farm in Lewiston last year instead of planting this year's crop. While Belanger says he'd rather be out in the fields, the consistently wet and cold temperatures of this spring, combined with the mixed blessing of a big potato crop last year, has kept him busy inside while he waits for the fields to dry out enough to plant again.
Although the rainy weather has been letting up as June progresses, farmers will be battling with wet fields into later in the month, and even on clear days Belanger may be unable to plant if fields remain wet and muddy. The effect of this bout of weather won't be visible until the plants that should have been in the ground by now are expected in the store, but Belanger says customers are just going to have to be patient. "This is the worst I've seen in years," he says, "but the whole state is really in the same boat."
And Belanger isn't alone in that opinion. May's poor weather ˆ the month was the third-coldest and 10th-wettest May on record, according to the National Weather Service ˆ is causing delays for vegetable farmers across the state, and especially in southern Maine, which saw more rainfall than other regions. Maine's vegetable farmers typically rush to get crops in the ground in May and June to take advantage of the state's full ˆ if short ˆ growing season. While some farmers have diversified their business to minimize the impact of weather-related problems, others may pursue potential federal disaster-relief funding ˆ and still others may simply not plant at all.
The most common problem growers are facing this month is late planting, caused by wet fields that bog down farm equipment and swamp vulnerable seedlings. "We've got some of our things in three weeks behind and it won't germinate until the ground gets warm," says Linda York, owner of Boutilier's Vegetables, a 120-acre Aroostook County farm that sells a variety of vegetables at both wholesale and retail.
The reality is that some farmers may not be able to plant this year, according to Sandy Truslow, executive director of the USDA Farm Service Agency for York and Cumberland counties. "We're still waiting to hear, but if people don't get things planted by the 16th some might not just plant at all," she says. For example, she says, pumpkin and corn require long hours of sunlight over several weeks to flourish; farmers now have to gamble whether the season will be long enough into October to accommodate these crops.
Given this spring's wet weather, Truslow says it is not unlikely that the FSA will declare the season a disaster. If the agency does so ˆ which could take as much as a year ˆ farmers who can prove that their farm produced less than 65% of the expected yield can apply for a benefit. But disaster relief funds wouldn't be paid until a year or two after this season is over; in the meantime, Truslow says, farmers will have to manage their budgets independently in order to get through the season. However, farmers are accustomed to managing this kind of uncertainty, she says, and could cut back by "maybe not investing in that new tractor they need."
To market
Some farmers, like Jack Flaherty of Flaherty's Family Farm Inc. in Scarborough, are doing whatever they can to take the uncertainty out of the industry by diversifying crops, relying more on greenhouses and focusing on retail instead of wholesale distribution. Flaherty's goal has been to "cut out the middle man," he says. "In the [wholesale] markets we've been getting the same price we were 15 years ago, and it's easier to grow and sell for retail than do wholesale."
When Flaherty sells his produce at his own store, he says, it doesn't much matter if certain crops come in late. But if his produce is sold wholesale, retailers expect a certain quantity at a specific time ˆ items that can be hard to deliver given the vagaries of weather and pests.
Other farmers try to gain an edge by getting their crops to stores ahead of other growers. Bill Spiller of Spiller's Farm in Wells hoped to get a head start on the market by getting corn in early, so he can be one of the first to sell it in the summer. While he planted an early batch of corn in May, "It hasn't grown [like] what we're used to seeing," he says.
And while other farmers spent most of early June frustrated because they were held up in planting, Spiller has his own concern: that the crops he put in the ground won't make it through the wet period without rotting.
According to Truslow, some farmers take out crop insurance to guard against a difficult season, but she says the practice isn't common among vegetable growers with a diversified crop ranging from corn and potatoes to leafy greens and peas. Laughing Stock Farm in Freeport has just that kind of crop mix ˆ which owner Lisa Turner says is her strategy to insure against bad weather. "We grow a whole lot [of varieties], so if we get hail it'll ruin the spinach, but it won't hurt the peas at all," she says.
Laughing Stock is a community supported agriculture, or CSA, farm, which means that Turner's clients pay a set price at the beginning of each season and receive produce throughout the summer and fall. Turner also sells her vegetables at wholesale and retail, but she says her CSA customers are some of the most understanding when it comes to unpredictable output. "Nobody [in the CSA] has asked me whether they'll have a small return because of the rainy season," she says. "They may hit a spot in six weeks when the plants that should have been planted now won't be ready; I'll have to explain to people at that point."
In the meantime, Flaherty says even when the weather turns it's going to require a dedicated staff to get the crops in as fast as possible. "When it gets around time to start planting," he says, "a 70- to 90-hour week is nothing."
Although the rainy weather has been letting up as June progresses, farmers will be battling with wet fields into later in the month, and even on clear days Belanger may be unable to plant if fields remain wet and muddy. The effect of this bout of weather won't be visible until the plants that should have been in the ground by now are expected in the store, but Belanger says customers are just going to have to be patient. "This is the worst I've seen in years," he says, "but the whole state is really in the same boat."
And Belanger isn't alone in that opinion. May's poor weather ˆ the month was the third-coldest and 10th-wettest May on record, according to the National Weather Service ˆ is causing delays for vegetable farmers across the state, and especially in southern Maine, which saw more rainfall than other regions. Maine's vegetable farmers typically rush to get crops in the ground in May and June to take advantage of the state's full ˆ if short ˆ growing season. While some farmers have diversified their business to minimize the impact of weather-related problems, others may pursue potential federal disaster-relief funding ˆ and still others may simply not plant at all.
The most common problem growers are facing this month is late planting, caused by wet fields that bog down farm equipment and swamp vulnerable seedlings. "We've got some of our things in three weeks behind and it won't germinate until the ground gets warm," says Linda York, owner of Boutilier's Vegetables, a 120-acre Aroostook County farm that sells a variety of vegetables at both wholesale and retail.
The reality is that some farmers may not be able to plant this year, according to Sandy Truslow, executive director of the USDA Farm Service Agency for York and Cumberland counties. "We're still waiting to hear, but if people don't get things planted by the 16th some might not just plant at all," she says. For example, she says, pumpkin and corn require long hours of sunlight over several weeks to flourish; farmers now have to gamble whether the season will be long enough into October to accommodate these crops.
Given this spring's wet weather, Truslow says it is not unlikely that the FSA will declare the season a disaster. If the agency does so ˆ which could take as much as a year ˆ farmers who can prove that their farm produced less than 65% of the expected yield can apply for a benefit. But disaster relief funds wouldn't be paid until a year or two after this season is over; in the meantime, Truslow says, farmers will have to manage their budgets independently in order to get through the season. However, farmers are accustomed to managing this kind of uncertainty, she says, and could cut back by "maybe not investing in that new tractor they need."
To market
Some farmers, like Jack Flaherty of Flaherty's Family Farm Inc. in Scarborough, are doing whatever they can to take the uncertainty out of the industry by diversifying crops, relying more on greenhouses and focusing on retail instead of wholesale distribution. Flaherty's goal has been to "cut out the middle man," he says. "In the [wholesale] markets we've been getting the same price we were 15 years ago, and it's easier to grow and sell for retail than do wholesale."
When Flaherty sells his produce at his own store, he says, it doesn't much matter if certain crops come in late. But if his produce is sold wholesale, retailers expect a certain quantity at a specific time ˆ items that can be hard to deliver given the vagaries of weather and pests.
Other farmers try to gain an edge by getting their crops to stores ahead of other growers. Bill Spiller of Spiller's Farm in Wells hoped to get a head start on the market by getting corn in early, so he can be one of the first to sell it in the summer. While he planted an early batch of corn in May, "It hasn't grown [like] what we're used to seeing," he says.
And while other farmers spent most of early June frustrated because they were held up in planting, Spiller has his own concern: that the crops he put in the ground won't make it through the wet period without rotting.
According to Truslow, some farmers take out crop insurance to guard against a difficult season, but she says the practice isn't common among vegetable growers with a diversified crop ranging from corn and potatoes to leafy greens and peas. Laughing Stock Farm in Freeport has just that kind of crop mix ˆ which owner Lisa Turner says is her strategy to insure against bad weather. "We grow a whole lot [of varieties], so if we get hail it'll ruin the spinach, but it won't hurt the peas at all," she says.
Laughing Stock is a community supported agriculture, or CSA, farm, which means that Turner's clients pay a set price at the beginning of each season and receive produce throughout the summer and fall. Turner also sells her vegetables at wholesale and retail, but she says her CSA customers are some of the most understanding when it comes to unpredictable output. "Nobody [in the CSA] has asked me whether they'll have a small return because of the rainy season," she says. "They may hit a spot in six weeks when the plants that should have been planted now won't be ready; I'll have to explain to people at that point."
In the meantime, Flaherty says even when the weather turns it's going to require a dedicated staff to get the crops in as fast as possible. "When it gets around time to start planting," he says, "a 70- to 90-hour week is nothing."
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