Farms feel impact of heat, drought

Although Wednesday’s thunderstorm system brought relief from the heat, it did little to alleviate the drought situation in Boone County.

Radars detected up to 1¼ inches of precipitation in some areas, said Ben Miller, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in St. Louis. None of the storms, however, were significant or widespread enough to reverse months of abnormally low rainfall.

Columbia has received 16.6 inches of rain so far this year, more than 7 inches short of the average, according to the National Weather Service.

“There’s a cumulative factor that depletes the subsoil moisture,” Miller said. “You really haven’t had a month in the past 6 to 8 months that has been significantly above normal to replenish the soil.”

The storm created an outflow boundary — similar to a cold front — that brought the mercury down, said Patrick Guinan, a climatologist at MU’s Extension Commercial Agriculture Program office.

“You can be affected by the outflow boundaries and still not receive a drop,” Guinan said.

This is the case for Dennis Schuber, who owns a 820-acre farm in Hughesville. Rain last fell on his farm July 17, and it was less than an inch. He said his pastures are brown, and his crops are shorter than expected.

The lack of rain will have a severe economic impact on his farm, Schuber said.

“It costs so much to put a crop out,” he said. “The corn crop we have is not going to break even.”

This summer’s weather has affected corn crops in more ways than one.

“A lot of the corn is going to reach maturity early, which is going to result in lower test weights,” said Todd Lorenz, an agronomy specialist in the extension office. “Low test weight corn is twice as likely to spoil in storage.”

The heat and high winds

of this summer have also dried up the grains and stilted the plants’ maturation process, Lorenz said. Less moisture means lower yields and more fragile grains. Ultimately, it all adds up to lower revenue for Missouri farmers.

“Not only is agriculture being affected, but also lawns and gardens,” Lorenz said. “The lawns have really browned up and even some of the more drought-vulnerable trees have been showing signs of stress, with the leaves yellowing and falling from the tree.”

Water usage has increased in the city, mainly because of lawn watering.

The average amount of water used daily in the summer is around 18 million gallons, said Dan Dasho, director of the Columbia Water and Light Department. For the past four days, it was more than 21 million gallons.

“We have not seen a dramatic increase yet,” Dasho said. “However, since we just missed the rain, we’re anticipating that there’s going to be probably more water usage in the near future.”

Dasho said the city was not yet considering imposing limitations on water usage but urged residents to conserve water as much as possible.