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Farmers in bind (cont)

Cannon said that only about 45 percent of the crops at Rogers Farm have been planted, and some research projects may not be able to launch. Some of the trials include vegetable, corn and grass varieties, different farming systems, such as rotating crops, and organic trials.
"I'm glad I'm not making my living on the crops this year," Cannon said.
James Cook of Skylandia Organic Farm in Grand Isle does make his living from growing vegetables, berries, barley and soybeans. He also represents eight other Aroostook County farmers who belong to the Crown of Maine organic cooperative. Aroostook County didn't get as much rain as the southern part of the state, but farmers there are still two weeks behind.
"The last couple of years we have been spoiled with early springs," Cook said. "We planted by the first of May last year. June 1st is the target date and we've already gone well beyond that."
Cook said for those who managed to get their fields planted, cultivation is the next step. "But it's going to be hard to get on those fields," he said. "Everything is still too wet."
Jason Kafka of Checkerberry Farm in Guilford said he is using some innovative methods to beat the weather at his organic vegetable farm. Tents, row covers, greenhouses and a half-acre of sci-fi looking plastic tubes all are providing environments to help his 16 acres of crops to grow.
But, he admitted, he and his workers also are using some old-fashioned cheerleading. "We give the plants pep talks and speak well to them," he joked.
Kafka said it is amazing that Maine farmers "get away with as much as we do. All of this weather clogs up the soils and slows down the plants' respiration. Everything will be slower."
"But that is part of what makes Maine-grown foods delicious - the anticipation," he added. "Before you know it, we will all be complaining that we have too many zucchini."
David Marcinkowski is the hay, grass and silage specialist for the University of Maine Cooperative Extension.
"The hay is growing like crazy. But it has already lost quality because it can't be harvested," he said. "The corn is either rotting in the ground or it hasn't been planted yet. Now it is getting on the too-late side."
Marcinkowski said that farmers aren't panicking. "They are pretty much used to Mother Nature's whims. What really will affect them is the weather for the rest of the summer. If it is cold like last year, that will be bad. If we get a lot of heat, that would be good."
Paige Tyson of Two Loons Farm in South China said the farmers aren't the only ones affected by the extended rain and heat.
"Lots of occupations are suffering, such as the construction industry, forestry. But the difference is, they will recover. If you can't get a skidder into the woods, the trees will still be there.
"But if you can't get your crops planted or harvested, you're lost," he said.

Jack Schmelzer, the owner of the Hog Bay Berries blueberry farm in Franklin, said he doesn’t bring in bees to pollinate his 20 acres of plants because of the cost involved.
“Prices are now up as high as $75 a hive, and they recommend at least two hives per acre,” he said. “I just rely on the feral bees, honeybees that have escaped from hives and become wild.”
Schmelzer said he’s more concerned about keeping his operation organic than increasing yield.
“The reason so many growers need to bring in bees is the pesticides they use kill off the native bees,” he said. “Being organic, I don’t have that problem, or that cost.”
Yarborough said it’s impossible to predict how this year’s wild blueberry crop will play out. Maine’s 2004 crop totaled 46 million pounds, a 43-percent decrease from 2003 and the lowest yield since 1991 when Maine growers harvested 39.5 million pounds.
“Last year, at 46 million pounds, Maine’s wild blueberry crop was a disaster,” he said. “The state average is usually around 80 million pounds, although in 2000 we got up to 111 million pounds.”
Yarborough said the major contributing factor to last year’s crop reduction was extensive winter kill to blueberry stems caused by extreme cold and lack of snow cover during the winter of 2003-04.
While this year’s wet spring may encourage mummy berry blight, Yarborough said there’s little growers can do to address that perennial problem.
“Mulching helps, but it’s not practical to mulch thousands of acres,” he said. “Only burning will make mummy berries less of a problem, and that’s best done in the fall, when it’s easier to get onto the land.”
Wild blueberries are grown on a two-year cycle. Each year half of a grower’s land is managed to encourage plant growth while the other half is prepared for harvest in August. Plants are pruned to the ground after harvest by mowing or burning.
Wild blueberries have grown naturally for centuries in coastal Maine’s northern climate and high-acid, low-fertility glacial soils.
Maine’s Native Americans were the first to consume the berries, both fresh and dried. Commercial harvesting dates to the 1840s.
Maine is the top blueberry producer in the world, wild or cultivated, according to the Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine. Maine’s annual harvest accounts for virtually all of the wild blueberries commercially grown in the United States.

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Last Modified: 01/04/07
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