DELMARVA. -- The hot and dry conditions towards the beginning of this summer, coupled with the late summer heat is taking its toll on crops. Farmers have not had it easy this year, but they've had a little bit of luck with Mother Nature along the way.
Last weeks stretch of rain injected a little bit of life into some local farms. Overall though, rain has been difficult to come by, making the sprinklers at Michael Edwards farm in Princess Anne all the more important.
"We were able to mitigate the drought, but what I found early on, we couldn't actually water enough," said Edwards. "We were actually getting enough water in the ground, but it's so hot it was causing problems with the plants and the plants developing correctly."
Unlike Edwards farm, Emily's Produce in Cambridge does not have an irrigation system. Owners Paul and Kelly Jackson said it's why some ears of sweet corn have suffered from heat damage, causing them to have less kernels and look less full.
"That's missed pollination is what that is," said Paul Jackson. "So pollination when it's real hot, it's hard to get 100% pollination and you're feeling the effects of the hot and dry weather three weeks ago, four weeks ago."
Economically, that can make things difficult.
"The challenges for us whether it's this year or any year, is that customer trusting us that we're doing the best that we can do to produce the product, but we have to rely on the environment," said Kelly Jackson.
Farmers on the peninsula, doing their best to beat the heat.