Summer Warming Up Fast For Local Farmers
WESTMINSTER, Md. (WJZ) -- Summer in Maryland usually comes with a very mixed bag of weather: heat, rain storms and more. And this summer, that weather has both helped some crops and hurt some others.
Rick Ritter shows us how crops are faring.
Some farmers describe it as a constant struggle. Early rain has really helped certain crops, but at the same time, it's been a disaster for others.
In the middle of Westminster, 30 miles northwest of Baltimore, you'll come across Baugher's Farm. Co-owner Dwight Baugher can't find much to complain about this summer.
"That's odd for a farmer because we are the most chronic complainers on Earth," he said.
But as usual, nothing is perfect. A season that started with heavy rain in June hit some crops hard at first--like peaches.
"It was one of the wettest Junes in a long period of time," said Baugher. "Sometimes the cloudy weather, overcast, rainy, not good heat--the flavor is not where we'd like it to be."
Other crops--like sweet corn and cherries--soak up the moisture.
"Which coincided with one of the best sweet cherry crops we've had for a lot of years," said Baugher.
With the warm temperatures over the past few weeks, most crops at Baugher's Farm are coming around just right, especially the peaches, which had a rocky start.
It's a taste that couldn't be sweeter thanks to early rain, and now, consistent sunshine.
"Flavor will quickly come up when that's the case," said Baugher.
The same goes for 160 acres worth of apples. Customers are taking notice.
"I'm getting a lot of tomatoes and corn to take back to Florida," said Mary Francis, who is visiting Maryland.
With less than two months of summer left, Baugher says it's simply unpredictable.
"It's a tossup on which crop you're talking about that day," he said.
Baugher says if you're not getting much rainfall, you're going to use a lot of manpower and irrigation pumps--but so far this summer, that hasn't been the case.
