“We are suffering from drought terribly at this place. Half
a crop of wheat, and tobacco, and two-thirds a crop of corn are the
most we can expect." -- Thomas Jefferson to
Martha Jefferson Randolph, August 31, 1815
For a week now the skies have been overcast, threatening rain. Plump, gray clouds heavy with moisture loom overhead. Instinctively, we reach for our umbrellas before we go outdoors. It seems inconceivable that the heavens will not open and release a torrential downpour. And yet the heavens do not. There is not even a sprinkle. The clouds move on sluggishly to taunt others, and blue skies return.
As we drive through rural Monroe County, Illinois, the air buzzing with the hum of locusts, we pass rows of sweet corn withering on the stalk. Since the spring, the St. Louis area has experienced two brief periods of precipitation, one lasted a few hours, the other a few minutes. Mr. Kruze, a family farmer from nearby Columbia, Illinois, from whom we buy heirloom tomatoes and freestone peaches at the Soulard Farmer’s Market (est. 1779), has not seen a drop. The Kruzes farm some of the best cropland in the valley, the rich, black bottomland beneath the Mississippi River bluffs. From his fields, situated farther west than downtown St. Louis, you can see on a clear day the Gateway Arch to the north.
The Kruzes have been watering their fields daily with Columbia city water, which they purchase by the gallon. Some crops require more care than others. "I've got a soaker hose on the tomatoes 24 hours a day," Mr. Kruze says. Each day the drought drags on his profit margin shrinks. Others are finding creative ways to address the lack of rainfall. Mr. Kruze's sister, who owns the farm next door, has an old well with water high in nitrates. The water is undrinkable, but it can be salvaged to water root crops like carrots and potatoes.
Read more: http://spectator.org/archives/2012/08/16/drought-land
For a week now the skies have been overcast, threatening rain. Plump, gray clouds heavy with moisture loom overhead. Instinctively, we reach for our umbrellas before we go outdoors. It seems inconceivable that the heavens will not open and release a torrential downpour. And yet the heavens do not. There is not even a sprinkle. The clouds move on sluggishly to taunt others, and blue skies return.
As we drive through rural Monroe County, Illinois, the air buzzing with the hum of locusts, we pass rows of sweet corn withering on the stalk. Since the spring, the St. Louis area has experienced two brief periods of precipitation, one lasted a few hours, the other a few minutes. Mr. Kruze, a family farmer from nearby Columbia, Illinois, from whom we buy heirloom tomatoes and freestone peaches at the Soulard Farmer’s Market (est. 1779), has not seen a drop. The Kruzes farm some of the best cropland in the valley, the rich, black bottomland beneath the Mississippi River bluffs. From his fields, situated farther west than downtown St. Louis, you can see on a clear day the Gateway Arch to the north.
The Kruzes have been watering their fields daily with Columbia city water, which they purchase by the gallon. Some crops require more care than others. "I've got a soaker hose on the tomatoes 24 hours a day," Mr. Kruze says. Each day the drought drags on his profit margin shrinks. Others are finding creative ways to address the lack of rainfall. Mr. Kruze's sister, who owns the farm next door, has an old well with water high in nitrates. The water is undrinkable, but it can be salvaged to water root crops like carrots and potatoes.
Read more: http://spectator.org/archives/2012/08/16/drought-land
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