Heat may lead to bumper crops in Franklin County

By JIM HOOK Senior writer

Sweet corn, tomatoes and peaches all are coming in a week or two early this year.

Feed crops for livestock also are ahead of schedule after an early warm and wet spring. Corn already is waist-high to 6 feet tall.

"If we can keep water turned on, we're looking at an incredible crop," said Jonathan Rotz, agronomy educator with the Penn State Cooperative Extension in Franklin County.

AccuWeather.com Chief Long-range Meteorologist Joe Bastardi is calling for scorching temperatures this summer. Average summer temperatures will rival some of the hottest summers ever recorded across the eastern half of the nation.

"It's possible for record-breaking warmth in the first half of July for much of the nation," Bastardi said.

In south central Pennsylvania, that would mean temperatures at 100 degrees or higher.

August temperatures will be similar to July's, Bastardi said. September will begin cooling into autumn.

Local crops depend on timely thunderstorms during the heat of summer. Rainfall can be spotty. Farms near Shippensburg got more than a half inch of rain on Thursday. Chambersburg and parts south went dry.

"The southern portion of the county has been dry for a while, and near State Line it is critically dry," Rotz said. "Crops are holding their own."

Chambersburg orchardist Dwight Mickey hasn't seen substantial rain since June 9. A fully loaded peach tree approaching harvest consumes about 50 gallons of water a day, he said. His cling peaches should be in this week, about 10 days ahead of normal.

Mickey started irrigating Shatzer Orchard about 25 years ago. Today, he can irrigate half the orchard, then turn a valve and irrigate the other half.

"I've gotten the farm to where I can irrigate the whole thing," he said. "It's been money well spent. I usually get my money back the year I spend it."

Brent Barnhart, a Chambersburg area truck farmer, also irrigates his sweet corn and tomatoes. If it's dry enough, he moves the system every day to catch another patch. He applies about an inch of water a week.

Home gardens will start to suffer if the dryness and heat continue, he said.

A hot, dry summer would have some benefit. The conditions are less favorable for plant fungal diseases.

"It takes heat and sun to make good-tasting peaches," Mickey said.

But extremely high heat is not good for corn pollination, Rotz said.

Prolonged heat is tough on milk production. Stressed out cows give less milk.

Franklin County is Pennsylvania's No. 2 dairy producer behind Lancaster County. Most of the county's grain and hay crops are fed to local livestock.

Few feed stock growers irrigate, according to Rotz.

"We turn into slaves to the weather once everything is in (the ground,)" Rotz said.

The entire nation is looking at bumper yields if the weather holds, and that would mean cheaper feed costs for dairy producers surviving a period of low prices for their milk.

The early spring has set up the potential for a double crop of soybeans and an extra (fifth) cutting of alfalfa hay, according to Rotz. Barley is already harvested and wheat is coming in.

Across the state, crops are ahead of schedule, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture field report last week. Corn height is 26 inches -- 8 inches higher than a typical year at this time.

Three-fourths of farmers also reported good-to-excellent pastures and adequate or surplus soil moisture.

The National Weather Service is forecasting daytime high temperatures mostly in the 80s for the next week.

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