DE PERE (NBC 26) — First this summer, there wasn’t enough rain. Then, there was too much.
“It was a strange season all around no matter how you look at it," said Darren Vollmar, General Manager of Ledgeview Gardens. “With the heat that we had, I lost some crops to bolting and things. The seed germinates, and then it shoots up, and that's it. I don't get anything out of it then. So, we pulled some radishes, we pulled some turnips we pulled you know other things and then the amount of water that we add rotted some, you know root crops, and that so we lost some carrots lost some potato.”
However, farmers are grateful for the warm fall; it’s extended the summer season by about a month, said Vollmar.
“The warm weather has been great for us because we have a lot of projects to get done before the snow hits," said Brett Heeney, Manager for Fox Crossing Farms. "We have a greenhouse to put up, we have garlic planting to get ready, fertilizing to do.”
Grain prices have gone up about 25 percent over the past year, said Heeney. The farmer even created and patented a new product, called the Clean Coop Poultry Feedsaver, almost of necessity; it stops chickens from being able to peck and knock feed out of their pan, ultimately saving loads of feed waste. With this new invention, as well as the warm temperatures allowing for comfortable outdoor working conditions, Heeney believes his farm will cut major costs this year.
“The more hay we can get in a year, and the more green grass we have, the less feed we have to buy," he said.
While there’s talk about a harsh winter this year, Vollmar says, bring it on. Garlic is one of the crops Ledgeview Gardens is going to plant by the end of October, but Vollmar is hoping that there will be freezing nights, which will allow the farmers to put the garlic in without having it start to germinate and come out of the ground.
"This year, I want root growth, no top growth," said Vollmar. "But if I have heat like this, and I still put it in at the normal time, I might start having top growth. If that happens and then we get freeze, I may lose the crop. Personally, I prefer a harsh winter. I don't mind moving snow, that's not a bad thing, and having that snowfall and the moisture is good to kind of build up that bank underground, the underground water that we use. So I'd always rather have a little bit more moisture than less.”
Farmers just have one piece advice for those who continue to buy local produce.
“We appreciate people will come in and buy in from us," said Vollmar. "We just ask for a little understanding, as I can't just go and grab more, I don't have more acreage, I don't have more plants out there, if I lose it, I lose it. It is what it is and, honestly, nobody's more upset about it than myself.”
