Cold, wet weather holding up farmers

Local wheat farmers like Jason Starnes, pictured, are seeing less growth this season even in their most productive fields. Photo by Karissa Minn, Salisbury Post.

Local wheat farmers like Jason Starnes, pictured, are seeing less growth this season even in their most productive fields. Photo by Karissa Minn, Salisbury Post.

A better wheat crop grows thick and tight around the field's cornstalk remains. Photo by Karissa Minn, Salisbury Post.

This winter's cold, wet weather has made it difficult for farmers to run equipment on their land. Photo by Karissa Minn, Salisbury Post.

Some fields have produced a sparse wheat crop due to late planting and cold, wet weather. Photo by Karissa Minn, Salisbury Post.

No-till planting equipment helps farmers prevent erosion by workign through crop residue and minimally disturbing the soil. Photo by Karissa Minn, Salisbury Post.

By Karissa Minn

kminn@salisburypost.com

One of the coldest and wettest winters in decades has produced soggy ground and sluggish growth for local farmers.

Kim Starnes and his son, Jason, who own Four S Farms in Salisbury, said this year has brought some of the worst winter conditions they've seen.

"We've had wet winters and we've had cold winters, but I don't remember it ever being so wet and so cold," said Kim, who started the farm in 1974.

The low temperatures have slowed plant growth, while the constant wet weather leaves little time for the land to dry out or freeze solid before it soaks again. Farmers who try to go out on wet fields can tear up the land with their equipment — or simply get stuck in the mud.

"We were just a little late getting the wheat sowed in November because we'd had some rain," Kim said. "It wasn't that late, but then it just turned cold quick."

As Kim looked over one of his family's fields, Jason walked out and pointed to rows of bright green shoots growing thick and close together.

"This is some of our better-looking wheat, but even it's not quite as far along as we'd like to see it by the end of February," he said. "If the whole field looked like this, we'd feel a lot more comfortable with it."

In other areas of the field, the lines of wheat are sparse, and some of the shoots have a purple tinge from cold damage. A wheat crop on another field had to be abandoned entirely because the plants have barely begun to surface.

Jason and Kim said they aren't seeing as many side shoots, or tillers, as they would like. Every tiller produces a head of wheat, so more tillers make a better crop.

"Normally, when you sow it, you've still got enough warm weather that it tillers out more in the fall," Jason said. "Fall tillers make better wheat than spring tillers. That's where you get most of your yield."

During seasons where there is less growth in the fall, the Starneses apply fertilizer early in the year in order to spur on spring growth. This year, though, the process was delayed by three weeks until mid-February.

Despite these setbacks, Jason and Kim say they should be able to produce a satisfactory wheat crop if the weather is mild in March and beyond. They plan to harvest the wheat in late June.

"It's not going to be our best crop," Kim said. "We've already lost some potential, but we've still got the potential to make a decent crop."

Even though the rain and snow have been relentless this winter, soil erosion has not been a major problem for many local farmers.

For more than 10 years, the Starneses have used a popular no-till planting process, which sows seed through existing crop residue with minimal soil disturbance.

"This winter would have been a whole lot worse 20 or 30 years ago," Kim said. "It would have been a mess."

No-till farming can lessen harmful runoff of chemicals and fertilizer into water sources. The process also increases the organic matter in the soil, as well as the populations of beneficial insects and earthworms.

"Farmers were the first environmentalists," Kim said. "Before it was 'green,' we were already doing it."

The Starneses also keep livestock on their farm. The compact area where their cows feed is made up entirely of wet, muddy hoofprints, but the spacious pastures where they roam still have plenty of firm ground.

Brad Johnson, a Rowan County agricultural extension agent, said that some livestock farmers are keeping their animals on certain "sacrifice pastures" to avoid damaging other areas of the land. Many of them, including the Starneses, place geotextile filter cloth covered by stone in high-traffic areas. This system limits mud production and spreads out the weight of foot- and hoof-steps.

"The ground drains so much better," Johnson said. "It may get muddy on top, but it doesn't make it soup up to their knees."

He said farmers now are hoping for a mild, warm, moderately wet spring, so that their crops can recover more easily.

"These guys are really doing as a good job as they can with the cards Mother Nature has dealt them," Johnson said. "That's the great thing and the most frustrating thing about farming and agriculture. We're at Mother Nature's mercy."