REGIONAL PLANTING Fields of streams? Farmers face woes

The spring planting season has been a nightmare for many area farmers.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
Robert Moore should have been cutting hay Thursday afternoon. Instead he was patching potholes in his driveway.
Moore raises grain crops and beef cattle near Canfield on Western Reserve Road in Green Township. He said he should have the first cutting of hay off by now, but can't do it because of the rain.
"Every day is different out here," he said. "You just never know."
With rain and cold weather the past few weeks, spring planting has been a nightmare for many area farmers. Moore said he and his family were able to take advantage of good weather and planted about 265 acres of corn, soybeans and oats in mid-April and early May. Plants are growing well, but Moore fears they could be ruined if it continues to rain.
Not necessarily safe
"Just because crops are in doesn't mean they're safe," said Ryan Hockensmith, Penn State University Extension agent in Lawrence County. "We need to be cautious about the crops in the ground as well as trying to finish planting."
He said in Pennsylvania, farmers in Butler County are faring a little better than much of Lawrence County, which is just to the west. They were able to take advantage of a little window in April to get crops planted, he said.
Cold weather has delayed the development of slugs and root worms, pests that will eat young plants, he said. At the same time, fungicide and other applications farmers put on fields during planting is probably washed away.
Hockensmith said all the rain probably washed all the nitrogen out of the soil, too, so farmers should consider reapplying fertilizer.
"There were only a few days in May when anyone could get anything done, so we're behind like everyone else," he said.
Wheat's doing well
Hockensmith said one bright spot is that wheat is growing well because the cold weather has kept wheat diseases at bay. Farmers will harvest wheat soon after July 4, he said.
He said hay will be in short supply again because in a good year, farmers can get four, sometimes five, cuttings of hay by the end of the season. That won't happen because the first cutting is so far behind.
Pearle Burlingame, Mahoning County Farm Bureau organization director, said if the weather doesn't improve, many farmers will have to take a hard look at their economic situation. "Some will have some difficult decisions to make," she said. "Should they try something different, or quit altogether?"
"The attitude here isn't very good," Hockensmith said. "It looks like a good year for crop insurance."
Farmers can receive federal assistance if crops fail or can't be planted, but most programs require crop insurance to qualify, he said.
Duane Moff, vice president of Mahoning County Farm Bureau, talks to a lot of farmers as he travels northeastern Ohio for the Central Ohio Breeding Association.
"There's not much going into the ground anywhere," he said. "Ashtabula and Trumbull counties are doing a little better than Mahoning and Columbiana, though."
Tough on dairy farmers, too
Moff said if weather conditions don't improve, it will be another tough year for dairy farmers, who have suffered through high grain prices and low milk prices the last two years.
"If they get a good year for grain crops they don't have to buy grain and supplements," he said. "If there isn't much grain or it isn't good quality, then they have to pay more to make sure their cows are getting the nutrition they need."
On state Route 165 west of Salem In Goshen Township, John Bricker's family is raising beef cattle and the grains to feed them. The hay for the cattle is gone, but his family has about half of the corn and soybean crops planted.
"The wet weather is hard on the crops that are in, but if it quits raining, it shouldn't be too bad," he said. "We need warm weather and sunshine, and some wind to help dry things up. We need to get into the fields."