New Jersey's excessive drought is blamed for low reservoir levels and hundreds of wildfires that recently broke out. But how is the drought affecting our state crops?
The good news is that most of New Jersey's crops are finished for the year, grains have been harvested, and fruits and vegetables have been picked, said Peter Furey, executive director of The New Jersey Farm Bureau.
However, it hasn't rained in New Jersey since September, and now the state is going on 8 to 10 weeks without rain. So, the drought is adversely affecting other commodities.
One affected crop due to the drought is the nursery crop. The nursery industry is the largest in the state, Furey said.
Some plants that haven't been sold have either been left in the ground or in pots for the winter. So, they need to be watered and they are struggling because of the drought.
The other affected commodity is our state's livestock. "We don't have real big feed lots like Iowa or North Carolina, but we have small herds of beef cattle and other types of livestock. They need to get drinking water. They need to be fed. The pastures are dry, so that's out-of-pocket expenses for those farmers," Furey said.
There will also not be a third cutting for hay. That's been completely wiped out because of the drought, he added.
Having said all this, "It's bad but not totally bad for agriculture," Furey said, regarding this rare drought.
The two grains that most New Jersey farmers deal with are corn and soybean.
Fortunately, the seed was set prior to the onset of the drought in mid-September, Furey explained.
As surprising as it might seem, the state is going to have slightly below-normal yields for corn and soybeans.
The problem for them is the market prices are terribly low but that's not because of the drought. It's because of general economic conditions in the farm industry.
"The low prices at slightly below yields, they're not going to have a good yield but the drought didn't cause zero yields," he said.
The thing about these weather stressors, the quality of crops generally remains good, Furey said. It's the impact on the production costs that the farmer has to endure is where the hit takes place.
For example, cranberries had almost normal yields and good quality with those yields. The problem is that they didn't have a lot of water to do the water-based harvest, Furey explained. When farmers finish the harvest, they usually like to keep water in the bogs to protect the vines during the winter.
So, farmers are worried that if they don't get rainfall soon to fill the reservoirs to flood the bogs for the winter, that could cause some problems. But, as far as the quality of the crop, consumers rarely see adverse effects in the quality of the produce because farmers are geared to do what is necessary irrigation-wise to get that quality of crop to the market, he said.
Furey pointed out a couple of silver linings despite this excessive drought that the state hasn't seen in more than 20 years.
First, New Jersey had healthy rainfall for the first six months of the year, so that put a lot of moisture back into the ground and soil, filled ponds, and raised the groundwater, Furey said.
So, when the drought hit, it didn't knock farmers totally out. There were opportunities for irrigation.
"The grain is pretty much harvested, and one of the things that happens when you harvest grain, you normally have to dry the seed before you can deliver it. Here, the drought did all the drying so there's no fuel expense for propane to dry down the grain before you sell it," Furey explained.
The wine industry in New Jersey also prospered due to the drought. The extremely dry weather and lack of rainfall have led to a higher quality of grapes, which means a great harvest, and a wonderful selection of wines for 2025, according to the Garden State Wine Growers Association.
The timing of most of the crops being finished before the drought hit is probably the best silver lining, Furey said.
New Jersey farmers with land near woodlands and forests are worried about wildfires. Furey said they worry that if one starts near their farm, the fire could spread and the tinder-dry conditions could ruin their land. They are walking on eggshells until the drought turns around, Furey said.
There is also a worry when it comes to covered crops. New Jersey is well known for its soil conservation, Furey said. 60 percent of the state's active farmland goes into covered crops, which is soil protection for the winter.
When crops are taken off, farmers plant cover crops to keep the soil in place during the winter. Furey said now is the time to plant the cover crop but the ground is rock hard and dry. If farmers put seed down, they don't know if they'll get rainfall to raise that so it's money out of their pockets to irrigate the land.
"So, we're struggling with the drought, but it's not as catastrophic as it may look," Furey said.
We don't know yet, Furey said.
The weather pattern has to change. The drought was caused by a series of weather patterns, and high-pressured domes that just didn't move. It repelled the normal weather systems that would bring rain, Furey said.
So, if that weather pattern breaks up and we return to normal weather systems, this drought can turn around.
There is some concern with next year's apple and peach trees. There is a time in the winter and spring when they need moisture. If the drought continues for more months, there could be problems.
"I would say for 2025, it's fingers crossed. It is likely to rebound. We just don't know when," Furey said.