EASTON, Md.- Halfway through July and it has become evident to many farmers across the Delmarva Peninsula that their crops have reached a point of no return.
Talbot County farmer Greg Gannon said that right now his hands are tied. He added, "There is no supply of soil moisture. There is no reservoir in the soil and obviously it doesn't rain every day in the summer but to carry it into the next rain so it's day to day and it suffers."
A report released Monday by the National Climactic Data Center shows 55 percent of the United States is in a moderate to extreme drought and that includes Delmarva. Soil along Maryland's Mid-Shore is extremely dry and it is not just from this year. It is an accumulation over the past three years of extreme heat and drought.
Most farmers across the peninsula have watched their crop yields drop since 2010.
"There average yield has, in fact, decreased probably for the last three years," Gannon said. "I know ours has because again due to the timing of the drought and the heat when the corn is in it's most critical stage."
"Everyone's through here has diminished, sometimes 50 bushels an acre and it's just not enough to meet expenses," said Audrey Callahan, another Talbot County farmer.
Callahan has been in the agriculture business all of her life. She said that nowadays most farmers are choosing crop insurance to prevent a significant financial losses.
"It's awful tough most farmers carry crop insurance now, which usually helps pay the bills," she said. "But you don't make any money off of it and every year you hope the next year is going to be better."
While they are hopeful that next year will bring plenty of moisture, some farmers are they sure how much more of this adverse weather they can take.
