Drier weather would boost farms and tourism
The regional gully washer formerly known as June has thus far not done widespread damage to crops or hopes for a strong tourism season. But dry weather is devoutly to be desired for everything from affordably feeding horses to harvesting top-notch tomatoes to bookings at bed and breakfasts.
“Where should we begin?” said Les Hulcoop, an educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension in Dutchess County, when asked about the effect of such wet weather on Hudson Valley agriculture. “First of all, it’s been a very difficult year to do any haying. So that’s the first thing that would be affected: storing feed hay for the coming year. For the livestock and equine industry, that has a big impact.”
Beyond that, he said, the outlook is potentially fraught with peril but not necessarily dire. For the fruit crop, he said, “It’s been okay,” noting that lots of rain can produce lush fruit, but weighing that against the fact bees don’t work as hard in the rain, and are thus not likely to thoroughly pollinate as much acreage.
Regarding vegetable farming, Hulcoop called it “kind of a 50-50 deal.” He said, “Greens that do well in weather are doing great this year,” so that spinach, lettuce, and kale have thrived. But popular warm-weather plants such as tomatoes, peppers and eggplants “are being held back a bit by the wet weather and also the lack of sunshine.” Additionally, he said, the unusually cool nights might significantly retard plant growth as much as the unseasonably cool days.
Hidden perils and problems lie just under the surface, so to speak. For example, some fields have not been planted yet because it is too wet … and time is getting short. “We’re into the fourth week of June and even pumpkins may be a real stretch to try and get a crop in by frost if they are not yet planted,” said Hulcoop.
He noted nothing has happened so far to threaten any particular crops, but said, “It could be scarcer this year,” with regards to pumpkins and other produce. And he said that the wet weather could cause problems even after the rains stop, if it causes diseases such as early tomato blight.
“During the wet weather a lot of foliar diseases will really break out because most diseases have spores that do well in the water that maybe splashes all over the plant,” said Hulcoop. “That can really play havoc.”
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