Heather Curtis
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON (WMAL) – Farmers in Frederick County, Maryland are holding their breath as they wait to see how their crops fared after last week’s storms flooded and eroded fields.
Farmers can get an idea of how badly their crops were damaged by surveying their fields, but it will be another week before they know if their crops will make it or not according to Matt Morris, an agriculture extension agent for the University of Maryland and owner of Middletown Valley Beef in Jefferson.
“Vegetables will be affected by this, you know, inundated fields, or wet fields, we’re probably looking at an increased disease risk because of that, so there’s always the potential for reduced locally-grown produce availability,” said Morris.
Seeds that didn’t come out of the ground before the rain came may take longer to sprout, and some seedlings may rot in the soil according to Morris.
Farmers got a late start on planting corn this year because up until a few weeks ago it had been unseasonably cold. Morris said the majority of corn went in the ground when it warmed up at the beginning of May, but farmers who still have corn to plant won’t be able to do so for about a week because the ground is too wet.
Farmers who need to re-plant some corn will have to shell out about $500 an acre, although insurance may cover some of that cost, according to Morris.
In addition to possibly losing crops, Morris said many farmers – himself included – lost thousands of dollars in fencing. Some even lost livestock.
Morris said farmers could get some monetary help from the USDA if the state’s agriculture secretary makes a disaster declaration for the county.
Copyright 2018 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (PHOTO: Matt Morris)
