ALTAMONT, N.Y. (NEWS10) — After a string of non-stop rainy weekends that stretched from last November to the end of June, rainfall this summer has been below average, so far.
“Farming. You know, you’re at the mercy of the weather. You have no control over it,” explained Jim Gade, a fourth-generation farmer at Gade Farms. He said the heat is tough, but spring was tougher on crops, this year. “That was the biggest challenge this year was the rainy days getting, you know, the farmers who had heavier ground couldn’t get on the ground because it was saturated. The soil was cold, and the air temperature was cold. So, nothing really grew until it got warmer.”
However, he explained if he did not have his own water source things could be bad right now for his nearly 60 acres of crops. “We have two farms. We’re running pumps on both farms every day. It’s just another task that has to be done. Um, if this stuff doesn’t get the water, the crops don’t produce or you don’t have a good crop to produce or the yield is down,” said Gade.
But so far, Jim said he’s been able to make it work, “It’s been a real struggle this year as far as crops, timing, things like that. But irrigating now is the main thing. All in all, we’ve been having a good year. It’s just been a challenge. You have to stay on top of it and it’s a little bit more work.”
The lack of rain this summer also impacted boat traffic on canals. The Champlain canal system is making some adjustments. “In an effort to support both commercial tugs and barges that are moving cargo up there and recreational vessels. We paused our operations for a couple of days to allow us to build enough navigation pool,” said Shane Mahar, Director of Public Engagement New York State Canal Corporation.
He said the good news is the pool is full, and the locks are operational again. “But in the condition of trying to conserve water and make sure that there is enough to support both commercial and recreational activities, we’ve now gone to a schedule up on the Upper Champlain there to ensure we’ve got that balance in the water and safe conditions for all of the boaters,” explained Mahar.
The last day of navigation on the canals is November 3rd. This year will be a longer season than normal as the Erie Canal will be celebrating its bicentennial on October 23.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
