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Supervisors seek drought relief; residents asked to conserve water
At this point in the year, Vern Wood's sprawling farm in Lucketts should be covered with scores of hay bales ready for sale to horse owners. But, with little rain to feed his starving farm, all he has to show for his work are empty fields of brown."It has been a terrible drought," Wood, 79, said. "It wiped me out of hay for this year."
This summer's hot and dry conditions have browned fields and stunted crop and livestock growth throughout the county, which is now in the midst of a "severe" drought, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center.
To assist struggling farmers, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors agreed Aug. 6 to ask that Gov. Tim Kaine (D) petition the U.S. Department of Agriculture to have Loudoun declared a drought disaster area. The county last did this in 1999.
If the declaration is made, some Loudoun farmers would be eligible for low-interest loans from the Department of Agriculture.
Farmers in a drought disaster area can borrow up to 100 percent of their losses to a maximum amount of $500,000, according to the Department of Agriculture's Web site. The current loan rate is 3.75 percent.
"Everything has been affected," said C. Cory Childs, director of the Loudoun County Extension Office, adding that besides damaging crops the dry conditions have also limited milk production by cows, meaning smaller calves are being reared.
So far in 2007, agriculture losses in Loudoun attributed to the drought and cool spring total nearly $25 million, said Childs. He said while grape growers are doing fairly well, wheat, barley, corn and sod producers are struggling to harvest a crop this year.
Meanwhile, Loudoun's hay industry, which, at 57,000 acres is the largest in Virginia, is being hit particularly hard, with losses at some farms at 45 percent, Childs said.
And while the drought is reducing work for farmers, it's keeping area firefighters busy. Calls for brush and other outside fires, according to fire and rescue authorities, are up from 35 at this time last year to more than 90 so far in 2007. Also, the Loudoun County Fire Marshal's Office said it may extend its summer ban on open burning past the scheduled expiration date of Sept. 1 because of the dry conditions.
What's more, because water levels are low in one of its two water sources, Goose Creek, the Loudoun County Sanitation Authority is asking its customers -- most of whom reside between U.S. 15 and the Fairfax County line -- to conserve water.
One suggestion is for residents with even-numbered addresses to water their lawns only on even days, and for those with odd-numbered addresses to water their lawns on odd days. Residents are also being asked to wash their cars at facilities that recycle their water.
Greg Schoor, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sterling, said his office had data only for Washington Dulles International Airport. He said before showers fell early Monday that the rain total at the airport was 8-1/2 inches below normal for this time in the year. And, according to recent forecasts, the only chance for showers over the next seven days is Friday.
Not good news for Loudoun's agriculture industry, said Childs, adding that what struggling Loudoun farmers need most is a consistent stretch of showers to save what's left of the harvest season. "The damages that are done will not be undone with a little bit of rain," he said.
Purcellville's Stanley Franklin, who has been farming for more than 60 years, said, "It is the driest I have ever seen it." He'll only get one cutting of hay this year, as opposed to the normal two, he said.
Sounding dismayed, Franklin said storms have been popping up all around Purcellville this summer, but few have dropped moisture on his 300-acre farm.
"There seems to be about 10 square miles that is not getting any rain," he said.
It's the same case at Wood's Crosswinds Farm, where fields dried by drought crunch like packed snow when walked upon.
This year, Wood said he will salvage about 10 percent of the 10,000 bales of Timothy hay his farm normally produces in a year. That's about $40,000 in lost income for Wood, who has farmed in Loudoun for at least 25 years.
"Right now," he said of growing more hay in 2007, "we are dead for this year."
Contact the reporter at jjacks@timespapers.com
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