Farms challenged by cold April
STILLWATER, N.Y. » Through Tuesday, this has been the third- coldest April on record and the chilliest since 1875, the National Weather Service in Albany says.
Combined with snow and rain, area farmers have had trouble getting on fields for things they’d normally be doing this time of year such as spreading manure and preparing fields for planting.
But there’s still hope for a good spring as temperatures are expected to reach the mid- to upper-70s with bright sunshine by the middle of next week.
“The thing about Mother Nature is there is no normal,” said Chris Koval, coowner of Koval Brothers Dairy in Stillwater. “We’re behind, but not super behind. Last year was the worst spring in 20 years. It was so wet we had to shut down what we were doing. So even though we’re 10 days late, it could still be better than last year.”
The average temperature for the first 24 days of April was 39.4 degrees, or 7.3 degrees below normal. The only two days above normal were April 13 and 24.
“That’s pretty significant,” meteorologist Joe Villani said.
Typically, dairy farmers empty manure storage facilities by spreading nutrients on fields in spring.
“Manure has to be spread before fields can be prepared for planting,” said Aaron Gabriel, Washington County Cornell Cooperative Extension agent. “But very little spreading can be done because the soils are saturated with water. Manure will run off, and machinery will cause compaction and ruts in wet soils.”
The earlier farms can get crops planted the better, which maximizes yield.
“But it’s been too wet,” Gabriel said. “When spring grains and hay seedings are planted late they get more weeds and grain yields will go down. Spring grains need a long mild spring for best yields.”
Also by now, pastures normally start to green up, but many are still brown.
“So that means you have to keep your animals in longer and provide stored feed such as hay, haylage and silage, which is a more expensive way to feed livestock,” he said.
Higher costs are the last
thing struggling dairy producers need now, as the price they get for milk is at an historically low level.
This month’s cold weather has affected vegetable growers as well.
“As it stands, early crops like peas, onions, leafy greens, broccoli and cabbage are already behind schedule,” said horticulture professor Steve Reiners at the at New York State Agriculture Experiment Station in Geneva. “But not to worry. It’s too soon to call the season a washout and you can still expect New
York-grown early crops to come to market. But the weather will have to hurry. We need a week of warm, dry and breezy weather to dry the fields to the point they can be planted.”
“Meanwhile, warm season crops like tomatoes, peppers, squash and cucumbers won’t be planted outside for another few weeks, so there is still time for the season to turn around,” he said. “This is all less than ideal, but New York farmers are a resilient bunch and they’ll come through just fine.”