Linda Reed of Hillsboro and her son Jordan take advantage of the extended growing season at Valley Home Farms in Wartrace. Owner Bobby Potts said the cool nights will give the strswberries another two to three weeks of production. (T-G Photo by Mary Reeves) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

At Valley Home Farm on Potts Road in Wartrace, the strawberry fields are irrigated, so it wasn't the drought causing problems as much as the temperatures. Owner Bobby Potts said the pick-your-own strawberry business suffered a little from the late freeze last year, but the cool nights this year have actually helped.

"We usually peak around Mother's Day," said Potts. "This year, the cool weather set us back some; it slowed the ripening season -- but it also extended it."

Bobby Potts of Valley Home Farm is more concerned about the temperature than the rainfall at his pick-your-own strawberry farm. The plants are irrigated, but cold weather can be devastating. This year, however, cool nights have extended the growing season and there are still plenty of berries available. (T-G Photo by Mary Reeves) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

As far as quantity, he added, the year has been "about level," but the quality of berries has been very high and berries should be available for two weeks longer than usual.

"Normally, we would be winding up picking by the first week in June, but we hope to keep going to the middle of June," said Potts. "We may just go to pick-your-own later."

The hay fields have also had a respite from the drought, thanks to a wet spring. Thousands of the golden round bales have appeared recently in fields throughout the county.

Bedford County Agricultural Extension Agent John Teague said he has heard some farmers got more hay in this first cutting than they did all summer last year.

But, he warns, the drought isn't over yet.

"We are still classified in a severe drought condition," he said. "People look at the short term and think it's muddy and all because of the rain we had last month, but we are still in deficit, when you put together the cumulative effect of the last three dry summers."

Part of the county is actually rated in "moderate drought" while part remains "severe," but Teague doesn't see enough difference to matter.

"When you're up to your neck in alligators, what's the difference if you're in 10 inches of water or a foot of water?" he asked.

There were no late hard freezes this year, said Teague, and he hasn't had any reports of fruit crops being damaged by the cool weather lasting longer than usual. Soybeans and corn are looking good so far, responding well to the wet spring, he said, and the recent rains have definitely helped the crops as far as hay and pastures are concerned.

"I've had had reports from people that their hay crop is as good as it's been in a long time, both quantity and quality. I think our grasses have rebounded."

In a normal year, farmers can get two, maybe three cuttings of hay a year. One reason the crop has done well, in spite of the water deficit, is that most farmers use fescue grass for their hay, he said.

"It's a really tough grass in terms of stamina, for growing in weather extremes and overgrazing abuse," said Teague, who said the grass is especially good for soil conservation. "If we hadn't had fescue, we'd have been washed to the Gulf of Mexico by now."

The drought had drastic effects on both crop and livestock farmers last year. The hay shortage and drying up ponds forced many to sell cattle far earlier and for less money than normal.

"There was a lot of culling," said Teague. "They got rid of a lot of what I call the three Os -- old cows, open cows that haven't been bred back, and ornery cows."

But the drought has changed more than that -- it possibly has affected the very ground in which those crops grow and on which those cattle graze.

"I've had a lot of calls about ponds going dry," the extension agent said. "Even in the rainy season, they've filled up -- and drained down again."

The problem, Teague said, is that it has been so dry for so long, the soil structure may have changed, cracks and crevices have formed in the underlying rock, and the water table is shrinking.

"I don't think a lot of these ponds will hold water again," he said. "I think it's going to be a long-term effect."

Long-term is the key phrase, said Teague, and farmers need to keep that in mind when planning crops and stock. As wet as the spring months have been, the prediction is a grim return to hot and dry. At a recent conference, representatives of the agriculture extension offices were told that June would see a return to last year's conditions of higher-than-normal temperatures and dryer-than-normal days.

"Common sense tells us we need to conserve water -- and that's for everybody, all the users of water in the Duck River basin," said Teague. "We need to get realistic on stocking points, reducing the numbers of producing mamas in the cowherds. We need to do a better job on matching our resources."

He said he has already seen some positive changes as farmers are working harder to preserve the hay once it's cut and not wasting as much, as well as cutting earlier to improve the quality of the hay, as well as increase the potential number of cuttings.

With farmers facing higher overhead costs due to rising fuel prices, Teague said a good hay crop will ease that burden some what.

"Most of them cut hay for their own livestock -- cattle, horses, goats. What they cut, they don't have to buy."