by Kate Evans
While recent rains have helped offset a lengthy drought, area farmers have been having a rough time because of this summer’s lack of rainfall. From dried-up pastures, less hay and reduced crops to wells running dry and feeding cattle early, farmers have been hit hard.
In Morgan County, those who make a living or income from the land are working hard to make the most of a challenging season.
Kory Harmison is a local farmer and West Virginia Farm Bureau board member for Region 1-Morgan, Berkeley, Jefferson and Hampshire Counties.
Harmison said that at the climax of this summer’s drought, their pastures all died and they had to feed their cattle early. His farm operations got two cuttings of hay.
Crops had to be irrigated to survive. The harvest was slowed down and the amount of harvest was also down, he said. 
“Crops have bounced back from the last month of rain. June, July and early August were hard,” Harmison said.
The Harmisons have cattle, haymaking and row crops of wheat and corn at their Berkeley Springs farm and a produce operation in Virginia, an estimated 850 acres of both farms combined. Harmison runs the farms with his dad John Harmison and his younger brother, Kody Harmison.
The Harmisons grow a good bit of hay for themselves and also grow it for the horse industry. They brood cows and raise calves to take to market.
Harmison said that the central part of West Virginia has been hit hard. Farmers there are trucking in hay from the Midwest. People may have culled a few cows to cope with the amount they were feeding their herd. That was happening nationwide.
Produce farmers were pulling water from wells to irrigate crops. Some had their wells run dry. Some farms also have streams to pull from or irrigation ponds to tap into for water. This year their Virginia farm pulled water from deep wells, he noted.
“Farmers tend to be resilient. They do what’s necessary to make things work. They’ll downsize for awhile. People are selling older cows to get new ones to cut back on feed,” Harmison said.
Harmison said that there are programs, loans and other assistance available in the state to help farmers that have been hurt by the drought.
Pam Hessler, West Virginia Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Committee chairperson, said the drought affected everyone. Some farms have been hit really hard here and across the state by the drought.
The Hesslers have a small farm. They own around 10 acres. There’s 13 acres in her husband’s mom’s name and there’s another 10 acres that’s all hay. They rotate the cattle in the pastures when they have cattle, which they use for their own consumption.
The Hesslers had no cattle this year. They redid their fencing and went to auction all spring and summer. Hessler said they didn’t get cows at auction as the prices were through the roof so they didn’t start using their hay early.
Locally, hay is a lot of the drought issue. Hay prices are up. Farmers may have gotten their first crop of hay, but some didn’t get more cuttings. Every farmer in the area and state had to start feeding earlier if they had animals. Their farm was able to help a few local animals with their extra hay, Hessler said.
“Hay is a hot commodity right now,” she noted.
Hessler said it was a terrible summer for vegetable farmers and most crops.
Other issues have been hurting farmers before the drought hit. Hessler said that the cost of fertilizer and feed is outrageous across the country. You periodically have to put nutrients back into the ground.
Hay, field corn, other
Southern Morgan County farmer Tom Hill said that grass doesn’t grow when it’s dry. Their farm usually makes around 300 round bales of hay, but they got around 212 round bales this year. Last year they held over 80 bales. He’s hoping that will get them through winter.
“Some farmers aren’t that lucky,” Hill noted.
Hill, husband of Cindy Largent-Hill, said his father-in-law Paul Largent bought the 400-acre farm in the 1960s. Largent planted wheat, corn, ground his own feed and made silage (chopped up whole plants) and put it in a silo. Silage is high in carbohydrates and sugar.
“Cows love it,” Hill said.
Hill said the whole Largent family is involved in the farm. The Largents started feeding their cattle on June 28. They have a small herd of around 33 cattle.
Before Hurricane Debby, the grass was brown and dry. It goes dormant and the grass doesn’t have as much nutrients. The rains have really helped the pastures come back so now they’re not feeding cattle their winter hay. A lot of times with drought conditions, hurricanes are a saving grace inland, Hill said.
The cattle are now back on pasture. The grass isn’t real high but it is high enough to let the cattle feed, he said. The cattle are rotated on different pastures.
Field corn production this year is very low, Hill said. The corn got around 4-5 feet tall but is usually 6-7 feet high. Hill said they usually get 140 bushels of corn from one acre. They only got 40 bushels this year.
Hill said they sold their calves early in September. There wasn’t enough feed for them all on pasture. He usually makes 100 bales of hay to sell but he had to keep it to feed his cattle.
Their pond feeds water to several 300-500 gallon water troughs for their cattle to drink. Cattle can drink 3-5 gallons of water at a time and drink around 8 gallons of water a day.
“Farmers depend on the rain. It’s a bigger gamble than in Las Vegas. Plants need water to grow,” Hill said.
Hill retired from the Post Office and took over managing the Largent farm. Hill didn’t know anything about farming then. Farmers from the community showed him things about farming, making hay, running a tractor and helped him make hay to get him started. Hill said it’s a community that helps people out.
Farmers have other issues, too. They have to inoculate their herd. If a cow has a limp, large animal veterinarians are hard to find. Fertilizer costs $1,000 a ton now –it’s normally $600 a ton. Hill said farmers also have to contend with deer and other wildlife eating their crops and always plant more.
Some farmers say if they can break even, they’re lucky, but Hill said they need to make a profit.
Produce farmers
Laura Glascock, owner of Glascock’s Produce with husband Mark, said this summer’s drought had affected their farm operations. They weren’t getting as much produce. Tomato vines weren’t blooming and were dying. Their tomato vines did finally bloom but they weren’t setting fruit. Their late crops are doing well.
The Glascocks were pumping water into their pond which they use for irrigation, but the pond water level was getting low. They got water from the pond for 2-3 weeks, then miraculously it rained, she said.
Glascock said they usually do a lot of wholesale sales at their farm, but they hadn’t done any this year. They sell their produce to restaurants in town and sometimes to the state park. Her father-in-law Steve Glascock owns the farm and she and Mark farm it. His dad makes straw.
Glascock said she grows herbs in the springtime and starts them in April and May, then in June she plants annuals. Then it’s strawberries, cherries, blueberries and peaches that they grow on the farm.
They had no rain for eight weeks, which isn’t good for anyone that’s trying to farm, Glascock said. The trees are looking very stressed and did last year, too. It’s really bad this year.
They haven’t asked for drought assistance and Glascock said she hasn’t had time to look into it. She spends three days a week in the kitchen making breads and dumplings. They were told to keep their receipts, but she’s not sure what’s needed.
With recent rains, their crops started looking good, but when it dried out again, they were back to where they were. Glascock said the creeks were down to nothing.
The Glascocks both stressed that it’s still important to get the rain to drench the earth. She noted that irrigation doesn’t really give plants what they need.
“There’s nothing like heavenly rain out of the sky,” she said. 
