High Winds, Cold Cripple NY Onion Crop
May 13, 2010
By Jeremiah Horrigan and Alyssa Sunkin
Times Herald-Record
Radio Iowa

In Orange County, the wind roared in like a sandblaster, leaving tender Black Dirt onion shoots lying limp on the ground.

Photo: Pine Island farmer Chris Pawelski holds a tiny onion plant Tuesday, that was damaged by the weekend's high winds. In one of Pawelski's fields, winds clocking 46 mph blew away topsoil, leaving roots exposed. Pawelski says Black Dirt onion farmers have only had two good seasons in the past 15 years; now, there's danger of frost. (Times Herald-Record / Tom Bushey)

In Ulster County, the farmer's springtime nemesis — frost — stalked low-lying apple orchards like a thief in the night.

And late Tuesday, the National Weather Service announced a winter weather advisory for northwest Ulster County, saying up to 5 inches of snow was possible from Woodstock to Ellenville Wednesday morning.

Unseasonably cold, windy weather has made it a very trying time to be a farmer in the mid-Hudson region.

Black Dirt onion farmer Chris Pawelski of Goshen, for example, said strong winds at the end of April and again last weekend uprooted many of his onion crop's tiny sprouts. In one of his fields, winds up to 46 mph whipped away the topsoil, leaving roots exposed. For those crops, there's no chance of survival.

Pawelski's dilemma is he can't replant until he knows how bad the damage is, and the longer he waits, the harder it will be to replant.

In a perfect illustration of the vagaries presented by the recent weather, farms five miles away from Pawelski's were left unscathed by the winds.

In the case of the region's apple crop, it's always a matter not only of how cold it gets but where your crop is located. Lower-lying orchard plots are at greater risk of frost damage. Monday's overnight low, recorded at the nearest weather station in Poughkeepsie, was 31 degrees, with temperatures at some farms going as low as 27 degrees Tuesday morning.

Mike Fargione, educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension in Highland, said some cold-damaged crops have been reported, but, as with the Black Dirt onion crop, the toll won't be known for days and its overall impact won't be known for weeks.

The weekend cold was as unexpected as the heat that hit the region several weeks ago, triggering the earliest fruit tree blossoming in 60 years.

Fargione said not only apples but all regional crops, including peaches, grapes and strawberries, could be damaged by frost.

Rod Dressel, owner of Dressel's Farms in New Paltz, said Tuesday morning he had tried to protect his crops by watering them, but he was fearful he might still have lost half his crop.

A few miles south of Dressel's farm on Route 208, Tammy Boylan of Wright's Apple Farm said she was surprised to hear about Dressel's difficulties. She was unaware of any damage to her family's apple crop.

"You have to be optimistic, you're always at the mercy of the weather and the market," she said.

In the past 10 years, mid-Hudson apple growers have had two badly damaged crops.By contrast, Black Dirt onion growers have only had two good seasons in the past 15 years — 1995 and 2008, Pawelski said. And since 1995, the number of onion growers have been halved, from about 60 to 30. "We can't take much more of this," Pawelski said.

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.d ... 47/-1/NEWS

Food and Ethanol Shortages Imminent as Earth Enters New Cold Climate Era
May 13, 2010
Space and Science Research Center

The Space and Science Research Center (SSRC), the leading independent research organization in the United States on the subject of the next climate change, issues today the following warning of imminent crop damage expected to produce food and ethanol shortages for the US and Canada:


Over the next 30 months, global temperatures are expected to make another dramatic drop even greater than that seen during the 2007-2008 period. As the Earth’s current El Nino dissipates, the planet will return to the long term temperature decline brought on by the Sun’s historic reduction in output, the on-going “solar hibernation.” In follow-up to the specific global temperature forecast posted in SSRC Press Release 4-2009, the SSRC advises that in order to return to the long term decline slope from the current El Nino induced high temperatures, a significant global cold weather re-direction must occur. According to SSRC Director John Casey, “The Earth typically makes adjustments in major temperature spikes within two to three years. In this case as we cool down from El Nino, we are dealing with the combined effects of this planetary thermodynamic normalization and the influence of the more powerful underlying global temperature downturn brought on by the solar hibernation. Both forces will present the first opportunity since the period of Sun-caused global warming period ended to witness obvious harmful agricultural impacts of the new cold climate. Analysis shows that food and crop derived fuel will for the first time, become threatened in the next two and a half years. Though the SSRC does not get involved with short term weather prediction, it would not be unusual to see these ill-effects this year much less within the next 30 months.”

The SSRC further adds that the severity of this projected near term decline may be on the order of 0.9ºC to 1.1ºC from present levels. Surprising cold weather fronts will adversely impact all northern grain crops including of course wheat and the corn used in ethanol for automotive fuel.

In pointing out the importance and reliability of this new temperature forecast and its effects on North American crops, Director Casey adds, "The SSRC has been the only US independent research organization to correctly predict in advance three of the most important events in all of climate science history. We accurately announced beforehand, the end of global warming, a long term drop in the Earth’s temperatures and most importantly the advent of a historic drop in the Sun’s output, a solar hibernation. The US government’s leading science organizations, NASA and NOAA have completely missed all three, as of course have United Nations climate change experts. It is only because of the amount of expected criticism we received because of our strong opposition to the Obama administration’s climate change policies and our declaration of the end of global warming, that the SSRC is not more fully accepted for its leadership role in climate change forecasting. The facts and reliability surrounding our well publicized predictions however stand as testament to the SSRC’s proven ability to understand the nature of global climate change. In view of the importance of this new forecast I have notified the Secretary of Agriculture to take immediate actions to prepare the nation’s agricultural industry for the coming crop damage.”


The SSRC places only one caveat on this forecast. Casey elaborates, “Only a stronger solar cycle with a period longer than the 206 year cycle can cause us to alter our projections. Although more research is needed in this area, none have yet shown themselves. The present hibernation is proceeding in almost lock step as the last one which occurred from 1793 to 1830. If it continues on present course, while the cold weather impacts on food and fuel announced today are certainly important, they do not compare with what is to follow later. At the bottom of the cold cycle of this hibernation in the late 2020’s and 2030’s there will likely be years with devastating to total crop losses in the Canadian and northern US grain regions.”

Cold Temps Threaten NY Apple Crops

May 13, 2010
By Kathleen Horan
Simcoe Reformer

NEW YORK, NY May 12, 2010 —A cold wind each day could keep the apples away. That's the concern of New York's apple growers, who say unseasonable temperature dips could threaten the buds and blossoms that will produce next fall's crops.

Peter Gregg, a spokesman for the New York Apple Association, says one group of upstate growers hired a fleet of helicopters to hover over their trees this week to warm things up. That, Gregg says, can raise the temperature three or four degrees. "That can really make all the difference with damaging our fruit or not," he says.

Other farmers have been lighting bonfires and hooking up wind machines to keep temperatures above 28 degrees.

Temperatures tonight will again drop into the 30s in some parts of New York, but then will jump into the 40s and 50s as the week progresses.

New York is the second leading producer of apples in the country, behind Washington state.

http://www.wnyc.org/news/articles/154826

Snow Slams Wisconsin Ginseng Farms


May 13, 2010
By Robert Imrie
Wausau Daily Herald

Gov. Doyle on Wednesday requested a federal disaster declaration for ginseng growers in Marathon County after a spring snowstorm collapsed the shade covers that protect the crop from the sun.

"We do have a crisis here," said Athens ginseng grower Ron Krautkramer, who was busy working in the field and trying to save his crops Wednesday. "There is a lot of snow damage. A lot of frost damage. I am not 100 percent certain how bad it is. I know that mine has been hit pretty hard."

Wisconsin has about 200 ginseng growers, with about 1,400 acres in production, producing 95 of the nation's ginseng, most of it grown in Marathon County, according to the Ginseng Board of Wisconsin.

Wild ginseng grows on the forest floor, shaded by trees. When cultivated on farms, the crops are shaded by artificial canopies strung above the plants.

A disaster declaration would provide farmers with low-interest loans and secure crop insurance payments, Doyle said.

In seeking the disaster declaration from U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Doyle said the storm accompanying freezing temperatures could have killed much of the crop.

"The plants that survived the initial damage could die in the coming weeks from excessive light exposure," he said.

Paul Hsu, owner of Hsu's Ginseng Enterprises, said shades on more than 200 acres of his crop east of Wausau collapsed from at least 4 inches of heavy, wet snow.

"It is a mess. It is a big, big mess. It is a disaster for the century for the ginseng industry," he said. "I have been in this business 36 years and have never seen anything like this."

It could cost $200,000 just to restore the damaged shade structures, said Sharon Hsu, his wife.

She was unsure how much of the crop was killed, but the downed shades can suffocate the plants, and simply pulling off the shades exposes the crop to the sun, which will dry it out, she said.

Crews of up to 75 workers were helping get the shade back up, Sharon Hsu said.

Even if the shades get restored in time, no more than 75% of the crop can be salvaged, she estimated.

In 2007, the most recent year for which figures are available, the state's ginseng farmers harvested 400,000 pounds of ginseng, worth $10 million, Doyle said.

http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/articl ... /WDHsports

Vineyard Owner Says 90% of Crops Gone





May 13, 2010
By Malachi Constant
ABC 7 News

LEESBURG, Va. - Some of Northern Virginia's vineyards have taken a big hit. Mother Nature did a number on one farm in Loudoun County in particular.

"I looked out the window and I saw the frost on the ground, and I knew it," remembered Doug Fabbioli.

Doug Fabbioli's life is his Leesburg vineyard. Most of the seven acres of budding grapes were killed off by Monday's early frost.

"It knocked back, as you can see, most everything down in this lower section is gone. I figure about 90% of our green leaves are gone," pointed at Fabbioli, who owns Fabbioli Cellars.

He figures he's lost $400,000 due to the damage. He didn't have alarms or fans, or crop insurance because he says it was too expensive.

You see the change as you walk up the hill. The brown and burnt at the bottom gives way to green and still good at the top.

Fabbioli showed us, "This is in good shape. You can see the size of the clusters and the color."

The other vineyards around here didn't get nearly as much damage as Fabbioli. But as competitive as these winemakers are they still look out for each other.

Some gathered inside, sampling Fabbioli's wines, and hoping for the best.

"Depends really on the weather that comes up now. If it frosts again, it'll be bad, but it's going to be getting warmer," said Meaghan Tardif of Chrysalis Vineyards.

Fabbioli's one of about 15 vineyards in Loudoun County, dubbed D.C.'s wine country. When one vineyard suffers, the others reach out.

Leanne Wiberg showed up with a box of cookies.

Wiberg with Doukenie Winery said, "I decided he needed something sweet to remind him that there's something still there!"

http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0510/735706.html

Frost May Force Iowa Farmers to Replant




May 10, 2010
KCRG, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

CEDAR RAPIDS - Frost early Sunday throughout much of Iowa may force some corners to replant their corn, according to the National Agricultural Statistical service.

The temperatures on Sunday were the lowest they have been this late in the spring since May 21, 2002, according to the service’s weekly Iowa Crops & Weather Report. Temperatures fell to freezing in all parts of the state except the southwest and southeast corners, and reached lows of 27 degrees at Audubon, Belle Plaine, Grinnell, Sac City and Sheldon.

Temperatures for the last week averaged 4.5 degrees below normal statewide, breaking a streak of eight consecutive weeks that were warmer than normal.

Farmers continued to plant corn and soybeans despite scattered rain showers, high winds, and the cold temperatures. Corn planting was 93% complete on Sunday, up 9 percentage points from a week earlier, and 11 days ahead of the five-year average.

The report said 48% of the corn acreage had emerged, compared to a five-year average of 17%.

Iowa’s soybean acreage was 44% planted as of Sunday, compared with a five-year average of 17%.

Farmers in east central Iowa had 4.1 days suitable for fieldwork, in line with the statewide average. Some Iowa could farmers get in only 2.5 days of field work or less.

Rainfall totals ranged from a low of 0.11 inches at Pocahontas to 2.86 inches at Farmington, with a statewide average of 0.58 inches.

http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/93325729.html

Maine Fruit Crops Devastated by Frost

I'm figuring we have half of a strawberry crop right now.
The apples? I don't even want to hazard a guess. —Earl Bunting, fruit

May 14, 2010
WCSH-TV

LIMINGTON, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- Not many people were complaining when we were treated to a stretch of unseasonably warm weather early this spring, but it has come back to bite Maine farmers in the bud.

Plants responded to the warm weather by sprouting early, some blossoming nearly three weeks earlier than normal in some places, but a hard frost across most of the state early this week has hit many fruit crops hard when they were at their most vulnerable.

"This is what the seeds should look like in a viable fruit right now, bright green," said Earl Bunting as he cut open a cluster of small apple blossoms. "The seeds are all shriveled up and turning brown."

Bunting owns Doles Orchards in Limington, and has tended to his acres of apple, strawberries and other fruit crops on the farm for 17 years. When his crops started flowering weeks ahead of schedule, he predicted problems.

"I'm figuring we have half of a strawberry crop right now," stated Bunting as he walked through his fields. "The apples? I don't even want to hazard a guess."

Bunting is not alone. David Handley, a small fruit and vegetable specialist with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, says he has heard from farmers around the state that are reporting similar situations.

"I'm not calling it a disaster yet," declared Handley while inspecting a strawberry field in Cape Elizabeth. "I think there are going to be some people that have smaller yields, but overall, it could have been worse given how low the temperatures were."

Many farmers covered their crops or sprayed water on them in an effort to protect them from the frost. While the steps did help some farmers, not everyone was sparred damage.

"When you start getting down to 26, 27 degrees, even a good watering program, especially if the wind is up, is not going to help you as much as it could," explained Handley. "It got very, very cold, and because we were three weeks ahead of schedule, the flowers were at a very susceptible stage, so we are seeing a lot of injury around the state."

Handley suggests people call ahead to find out when their local farms will be harvesting and pay close attention, because despite the frost, most fruit crops are still ahead of schedule.

http://www.wcsh6.com/news/local/story.a ... 91&catid=2

TN Floods Wipe Out Farmers' Crops

I've been farming since 1965, and I've got water where I've never seen before. —Eugene Pugh, mayor of Halls, Tenn

May 4, 2010
By Getahn Ward
The Tennessean

Just weeks after planting 260 acres of corn, farmer Danny Rochelle expects a total loss after the Duck River flooded his farm last weekend.

"It's all under about 20 to 30 feet of water," said Rochelle, who estimates a cost of at least $30,000 to replant and fertilize a new corn crop at his farm near Centerville in Hickman County.

Farmers statewide are counting costs of the flood that brought rain at levels that occur only once in a thousand years to roughly two-thirds of Tennessee's 95 counties. "There's no one alive in Tennessee today that has seen a storm of this magnitude," said Kevin Brown, state conservationist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Corn planted last month, wheat planted last fall and expected to be harvested next month, and soybeans whose planting season just began face the biggest risks, depending on how long the water remains.

The flood coming early in this year's planting season, however, should lessen the financial effect. Because Tennessee doesn't account for a major share of the nation's overall crop production, experts don't expect an effect on market prices.

"It would have been a whole lot worse if it had been a month from now rather than now," said Chuck Danehower, area farm management specialist for eight West Tennessee counties with the University of Tennessee Extension Service.
Farmers have a choice

Farmers still face a choice between sticking with corn if they need to replant or switching to soybeans. That decision depends in part on how fast the water recedes. For Rochelle, replanting corn this month would reduce his yield by 15 percent. If he doesn't get his soybean crop planted by mid-May, the yield would decline by a bushel a day.

Rochelle has crop insurance, but he expects to recover only about $2,500 on a $30,000 loss.

Other farmers, meanwhile, are dealing with damage to equipment, fences and pastures.

On Monday, dairy farmer Bob Strasser still had eight feet of water on 83 percent of his 240-acre Strasser Farms off Pennington Bend Road near Gaylord Opryland. On Sunday, 22 heifers had to be moved to higher grounds, and Strasser is concerned about cleanup and higher feed costs because the cows won't eat the muddied grass. "I don't eat dirty food, and they're not going to either," said the third-generation dairy farmer.

The flood may have a bigger impact in West Tennessee, where more of the state's crops are grown. Farmer Eugene Pugh, mayor of Halls, Tenn., and a Lauderdale County commissioner, estimates that he has lost 150 acres of corn and 400 acres of cotton from the flood.

"I've been farming since 1965, and I've got water where I've never seen before," Pugh said.

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100 ... mers-crops

Run of Rainy, Cold Weather Is Lousy for Corn Crops





May 13, 2010
by Pat Curtis
Radio Iowa

The recent cold, wet weather is raising concerns for Iowa farmers. Most of the state’s corn crop has been planted, but some crops were damaged by frost last weekend. Iowa State University Extension Climatologist Elwynn Taylor says those damaged plants may have trouble recovering in the soggy conditions this week.

“Corn that’s been damaged on the top by frost usually does all right if we have some clear, crisp weather following the freeze – rather than soggy, cold weather which sets the plant up for disease and other problems,” Taylor said. The southern third of Iowa’s been hit the hardest this week, receiving 2 to 4 inches or more of rain. Temperatures across the state have been much cooler than normal for this time of year which Taylor says has greatly slowed growth in the fields.

“The plants in the field just aren’t doing very much,” Taylor said. Farmers can’t do much at this point but wait and see how their corn crop recovers. “You just watch where there was frost damage and look to see if the new corn leaves are making their way up through the damaged tissue. In a week or so after the damage, if the new leaves aren’t beginning to show, then you know you’ve got a problem you have to deal with,” Taylor said.

Farmers are hoping to avoid replanting because of the extra work and expense. Drier and warmer weather is forecast for Iowa this weekend.

http://www.radioiowa.com/2010/05/13/run ... orn-crops/

May Frost Hits Calif. Asparagus, Ginseng Crops

May 13, 2010
Barbara Simpson
Simcoe Reformer

Local ginseng growers are already off to a rocky start this season.

Monday morning's widespread frost has damaged the perennial herb, particularly first year seedlings that haven't laid down roots.

In fact, local grower Doug Bradley has lost a 10-acre field west of Lynedoch due to the recent blast of frost. It is the same field he lost a year ago when frost settled in during the May 24 weekend.

"The first-year seedlings don't have roots, so when the top goes, they're done," explained Bradley, who is also chair of the Ontario Ginseng Growers Association.

The frost also plagues mature ginseng crops. The snap of cold can reduce the yield of seed. It can also freeze stems to mush, making them more prone to disease.

This May freeze is a similar start to last year's ginseng growing season -- a season that proved to be riddled with difficult growing weather. Frost coupled with rain and a lack of heat led to the loss of first year seedlings, a lack of root growth, and even mould and root rot due to the damp conditions.

But this blast of frost didn't only impact local ginseng growers.

Asparagus has also fallen victim to frost across North America, said Brenda Lammens, who grows the crop with her husband Raymond in the Langton area.

Frost hit growers from Harrow in southwestern Ontario to Prince Edward County in eastern Ontario and into Quebec, says Lammens, who serves as the chair of the Ontario Asparagus Growers' Marketing Board. Frost in Michigan proved to be even worse.

"Asparagus is down for the week and the supply chain in North America is shut down for the week," Lammens said. "Hopefully by the end of the week, we'll be going again because it doesn't look like it will be too warm."

Lammens lost 85% to 90% of the asparagus that was up.

"I know everything in one 10-acre field was frozen," Lammens said.

Damaged asparagus was also being cut at the Lammens' farm.

She said the crop will come back, but it will take heat. The rain forecast for midweek is needed as high winds on the weekend dried the soil out.

"It's going to be a slow week," Lammens said.

Local ginseng growers also realize that conditions could be worse. Fellow ginseng growers in Wisconsin have been riddled with snow in May.

"They're in really poor shape this year," Bradley added.

http://www.simcoereformer.ca/ArticleDis ... ?e=2575062

Salt killing crops, driving migration in storm-hit southern Bangladesh 13 May 2010 22:18:00 GMT
http://www.alertnet.org/db/an_art/60167 ... um=twitter
Written by: AlertNet correspondent
Bangladeshi farmers plant rice in a field at Keraniganj on January 16, 2008. Worsening soil and water salinity is killing crops and driving migration in southern Bangladesh. REUTERS/Rafiqur Rahman
By Syful Islam

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AlertNet) - Worsening sea water storm surges and overuse of irrigation have left fields, wells and ponds in parts of southern Bangladesh too salty to grow crops, leading to a growing exodus of farmers from the region.

During Cyclones Sidr and Aila, in 2007 and 2009, sea water was driven into ponds and rivers in Khulna, Bagerhat and Satkhira districts in southern Bangladesh, and some fields remained flooded by sea water long enough to raise levels of salinity in the soil and in underground aquifers used for irrigation.

Now farmers on hundreds of thousands of acres in the region are watching their rice crops wither and die before reaching maturity. In some cases, farmers have sown rice plants several times in a season but seen none survive.

Binoy Singh, a farmer in Surigati village in Bagerhat district, recently lost nearly his entire 10-acre rice crop to salt contamination.

"The pond, the river and the groundwater contain excess salt. Salinity in the land has risen too much. The plants became red and dried up after some days of cultivation," he said.

"Some two years back we were cultivating rice with water from the river and deep tube wells. But now the salinity of the water from these sources has gone above the permissible level for rice production," he said.

CROP REDUCED 90 PERCENT

Last year Singh got a ton of rice from his land. This year he may get less than a tenth of that amount.

"I am very much worried how I will feed my family members this year," he said.

Worsening storm surges and sea level rise linked to climate change, as well as overuse of irrigation, threaten to make soil salinity a worsening problem across broad areas of southern Bangladesh, a vast and heavily populated river delta region that sits barely above sea level.

In the Tala, Debhata and Kaliganj sub-districts under Satkhira district, salinity in wells 70 to 80 feet deep is now 10 times higher than the tolerable limit for rice cultivation, researchers say.

That poses a grave threat to food security in southern Bangladesh, and is driving displacement as farmers migrate in search of other work to feed their families.

"This is really unfortunate for the people of that area who go hungry many days a year in the absence of food," said M.A. Rashid, a scientist at the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute in Dhaka.

Institute researchers are installing wells in some of the worst hit areas in an attempt to find out whether there is water suitable for irrigation still available deeper underground. In many areas, farmers now have to dig wells at least 500 feet deep to get water that is safe for irrigation. Earlier such water was available at 200 to 250 feet.

Now "water available at 200 to 250 feet deep is risky for irrigation. If rain water or fresh water is not supplied in the fields after cultivation, rice plants will die after a few days," Rashid said.

Akmal Sheikh, Abdul Khaleq and Abul Kalam, farmers in Bagerhat district, said they are now losing a second season of crops to salt contamination.

"Last season we experienced a similar problem. We could not cultivate rice in all of our lands and got less output. This time, in the case of Boro rice (produced in the January to May season), the situation is disastrous. Almost all the plants died in the early stage," they said.

The men said they had spent about $350 to cultivate each acre of land. Most of the farmers in the area depend on loans from private sources with a high rate of interest. Normally, they repay the loan after selling their crop. Those who lose their crops, however, usually have no choice but to sell some of their land to repay the loan.

MIGRATION GROWING

As excessive salinity makes more crops fail, thousands of farmers are becoming landless and migrating elsewhere within or outside of Bangladesh, residents said. Many farmers tell of neighbours who have left for Dhaka, Bangladesh's capital, or for neighbouring India over the last six months to a year.

Some have fled rather than face legal prosecution for failing to repay loans, or have spent time in local jails, Singh said.

Iftekhar Alam, an engineer and salinity expert with the Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation, said excessive use of groundwater for irrigation is also driving the worsening salinity problem in the area.

Overuse of well water for irrigation, he said, is reducing the underground pressure that holds back sea water, allowing it to seep into aquifers.

"This movement of saline water into the mainland through the aquifer is increasing alarmingly. That is why the farmers are getting excess salt in the groundwater," Alam said.

"Within the next few decades, major parts of the southern reaches of the Padma River may experience underground saltwater intrusion," he warned.

His organization has so far installed 80 test wells across the country to better understand the reasons behind increasing salinity in groundwater.

Over the last 25 years, sea water from the Bay of Bengal has pushed 40 kilometres inland throughout underground aquifers, replacing fresh water, he said.

Syful Islam is a senior reporter with the New Nation newspaper in Dhaka, Bangladesh.