This spring, every region of Massachusetts is experiencing some form of drought. Going from west to east, the dry conditions intensify from mild to significant to critical. The Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs has issued calls for water conservation as the situation continues to deteriorate after two consecutive years of below-average rainfall and a drop in streamflow and groundwater. The current drought period follows the extreme rain and flooding of 2023.
“We have faced disaster after disaster. It feels like we had a late frost this spring. Now, this drought is very early in my opinion," said Alyssa VanDurme, a vegetable farmer at Field of Love Farm in Sheffield. “It seems like the fall is often when we hear more about drought conditions, so to have this in June is quite scary, because we have the full season ahead of us.”
The increasingly erratic weather underscores what VanDurme describes as an extra challenge to an already very difficult, stressful and laborious career path.
“We just had a microburst come through north of here, knock down some 100-year-old maple trees on a farmer's property," she told WAMC. "They're now scrambling to clean up their property and repair their barn and just be able to continue with their season.”
While farmers in Berkshire County have been spared the worst of it for now, they’re already facing a season of disruption before the true heat really begins.
“A hot dry summer is definitely a challenge, but we're having a hot dry spring, which is of course the time that you put your seeds in the ground, and when you put a seed in dry soil, it doesn't even germinate, so some of the timing on our crops is off by weeks at this point," said Paul Tawczynski, the owner of Taft Farms in Great Barrington. “Things like sweet corn, things like trees, things that you're putting a seed in the ground- If there's not moisture in the ground, that seed will sit ungerminated until it receives moisture. We have batches of sweet corn that were planted in April that are up 10 inches tall, 12 inches tall right now. We have batches of sweet corn that we planted in May that haven't even sprouted. So, what's going to wind up happening is we're going to wind up with early corn in mid-July, that's going to be delicious, and there's probably going to be some gaps of as much as weeks where there's no corn at all.”
The impact comes on multiple fronts.
“It's going to hurt because you count on that crop to come in when you have customers, which is the middle of the summer, and if that crop is delayed until fall, you just simply don't have the resources to sell it,” explained Tawczynski.
VanDurme agrees.
“If you have a crop failure, or if your crop just doesn't produce enough tomatoes or peppers or things, you're facing lost revenue, additional costs from trucking in water or drilling a deeper well, letting fields go fallow, all of those things," she said. "Livestock farmers may also have to bring in water sources for their animals if the creek that they usually water from is dried up.”
Tawczynski says the jumbled seasonal weather trends also has an environmental hit.
“The insects are all alive, so if the plant comes up and it's weakened because of less water or because of not being healthy from the heat, the insects can cause irreparable damage, and trying to grow organically or without pesticides really makes it more difficult to control those insects when your plant isn't healthy to begin with,” he told WAMC.
The drought isn’t the only thing on the minds of farmers.
“Our farmland is in a crisis. It, we are in competition with developers, and I've seen this firsthand," said Susie Norris, who runs Egremont Hill Farm, a nonprofit orchard that includes century-old trees producing rare and unusual apples. “I have about 15 acres here on a lake in Egremont, and on one side I have a glampground that's exploding. They're really doing a lot of paving and- They're trying to be environmentally friendly, but what does that mean when you're pulling through a lot of guests? We love them, but hey, that's a question mark. And the other side I had a new property owner come in and decide to burn four acres right on my property line because they wanted a view.”
Economic development and tourism body 1Berkshire says the region’s food and agriculture sector – including farms, grocery stores, food processors, and farm-to-table restaurants – employs almost 9,000 people and generates $22 million for the county every year.
In the battle over Berkshire land between developers, second home owners, and farmers, a season of drought could tip the scales.
“What I'm seeing is wealthy people coming in and buying big chunks, and that often is farmland that's been in place for generations, yet who can’t keep up with these conditions," said Norris. "And for a long-term small farmer, they can easily get wiped out by a failing crop due to due to drought.”
Tawczynski says the biggest challenge farmers are facing is rising prices that affect every part of the food chain.
“Our fertilizer is three times as expensive as it was last year, trucking on stuff is twice as expensive to three times as expensive, buying things in from Canada or Mexico or other places where you might get produce, everything is more expensive without any real relief in sight," he told WAMC. "And that affects everybody, whether you shop at a farm or whether you shop at a grocery store.”
In the hills of Becket, Ray Ellsworth of Mountain Pasture Farm says he’s ready for whatever Mother Nature throws at him. He irrigates his organic blueberry bushes with a well-based system.
“I use a drip system, so that conserves water," he explained. "It only puts down about a gallon an hour per bush, and it's focused right on the bush. That's where the spigot is.”
When Ellsworth retired from a career in accounting 20 years ago, he never wanted to sit behind a desk again. In addition to the solace of tending to the bushes, Ellsworth’s berries support the Becket community when he donates them to local church pancake breakfasts and pie sales.
“So, they've been doing some good, plus they feed the bears and the birds. And I have scarlet tanagers come into the field, and cardinals, and this year we had Baltimore Orioles in the apple trees," he told WAMC. "It's really nice. It's kind of idyllic. It's a beautiful, beautiful place to be during the day.”
