Farmers battle drought-like conditions amidst higher fertilizer, fuel prices

Ripened strawberries sit in over a dozen buckets at Bruce Saldana's farm, filling the containers to the very brim. The fresh fruits are a new crop for Saldana and are the result of well-hydrated ground through his irrigation system, which provides a steady drip of water from the Nolichucky River to each plant. It's a luxury he doesn't take for granted as drought-like conditions impact farmers across the region. "This is an increase of cost, you know, laying the plastic, the drip, all that but to get the yield, to justify it," he said. "You're going to get probably ten times the yield by doing the extra cost." The weather's inconsistency, he added, is one of the biggest obstacles farmers face when heading into the harvest season. "Your weather is your biggest (factor for yields)," he said. "We try to irrigate to offset the drought you know, and then the plastic helps with the weed pressure (and) you never know it could be a hailstorm, it could be a windstorm." The cost of counteracting the drought-like conditions local farmers are facing is only part of the input increase. The U.S. conflict with Iran, which started near the end of February, resulted in limited traffic through the Strait of Hormuz — a waterway where 20% of the world's fertilizer and a fifth of oil consumption are transported. Randall Dhandley at the Washington County Farmers Co-op said fertilizer prices are selling at $700 to $800 a ton depending on the NPK — nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. He said there has been no increase since April and they don't expect prices to change for the rest of the season. He added the biggest challenge with fertilizer costs increases paired with the drought is going to be the yield for the first hay crops of the season. He said it will only be 50% of what farmers saw last year. This will impact the price of hay as well as the supply. Joe Reid, owner of Genesis Farm in Telford, said he is still feeding his beef cattle hay due to little to no grass growth on his 140 acres. Typically, farmers stop feeding hay around April or March when spring grasses start to grow. "It's going to impact us just because the first part of the season of fescue didn't make," he said. "So that's our hay that won't be there for December." Reid purchases most of his hay from another producer. He produced about 60 acres of his own hay last year but he has already used all of his yield. He reiterated the same challenges Dhandley mentioned about the scarcity and rising prices of hay making it difficult to keep input prices down. "My farming habits are a little bit non-conventional," he said. "But because I'm still feeding hay from a conventional standpoint, I've kept them on the same field." When the grass is growing, Reid utilizes a rotational grazing system meaning he moves the cattle daily to avoid what he called a "kill pasture." A kill pasture is a pasture where the grass is eaten almost to the dirt. He feeds hay in the kill pasture to offset the lack of grass. This also allows him to preserve the other grasses until rain comes in. Grazing has a high nutritional value for cattle, and with the lack of nutrients for the bovines to intake, diseases are more likely to spread amongst the herd. This can cause farmers to have to feed more minerals, treat more illnesses and potentially experience a forage decrease. He said the high market prices of cattle are the only factor allowing him to compete with input prices. "I could not imagine being in a drought depending on the weather and be in crop farming," he said. "It's just devastating." Reid expects to have a higher input this year to set himself up for lower costs in the future. He said he has been contemplating adding an irrigation system on his farm as well as applying for a subsidy grant from the state to help decrease those costs and increase his profit. Sarah Long, though a small farmer and gardener, is also feeling the effects of the drought. She hosts a supper club called Spade and Spoon and is the executive director of Slow Food Tri-Cities. Trees in her orchard, vining fruits and perennial flowers are among her crops, as well as watermelons, Jerusalem artichokes and corn. The lack of water — and the inconsistency of the weather in general — led to Long installing an irrigation system. "We installed the system in March over spring break," she said in an email statement to the Johnson City Press. "It cost around $1,500 all in, and that's for a rather small area. I can't imagine the expense pressures commercial farmers are under right now trying to irrigate several, dozens or hundreds of acres." Alongside the cost of the system's installation is the increase she expects to see in her water bill. "I'm anticipating 25-30% increases," Long said. "And, at that rate, gardening on this scale becomes pure hobby because there's no way that I can compete on price with commercial growers and producers." Like Saldana, Long said the weather has proved to be the most challenging aspect of how her plants grow. Too much or too little water can inhibit the growth of seedlings, and the irregularity of the spring season's temperatures can create damage to the plants. "Late March and April were unusually hot, which caused early budding and sprouting and then, of course, we had that bad freeze a few weeks ago, which killed off all the fruit tree buds and did some real damage to other crops and pollinator plants like my hydrangeas," she said. "I'd planted a bit early, and though I covered with frost cloth, some of my starts are just so confused and unhappy, I doubt they'll make it. That said, plants are surprisingly resilient and I'm always amazed at their will to live." Though farmers on large and small scales are seeing less-than-ideal impacts on their products, many are trying to find sustainable solutions to mitigate their struggles. Next to the irrigation system to counteract the drought, Long is adjusting her supper club menus and gardening techniques to absorb some of the cost effects. "I've had to really plan the garden alongside menus and push each bed to its growing capacity," she said. "I'm using square foot gardening techniques for example, and I've doubled up on soil amendment and will even cover crop the beds to maintain soil health." With the increased prices and drought, she also encourages consumers to utilize their local farmers for their produce, hopefully creating a sustainable and healthy local economy. "We vote with our dollars and I know dollars are tight for everyone right now, but belt tightening has, historically, led to the consumption of more vegetables because they've traditionally been less expensive," she said. "This is a good thing for our health, for our environment, and for our local farmers. It takes a bit of extra effort and planning and cookery to pivot to a more vegetable-based diet and to hit a market or two on a Saturday to get everything you need, but if we want flavor, variety, and a thriving local economy…then we have to put our money where our mouth is. Literally."