Crops take a beating
June and July, driest months since 1951. The drought has presented challenges to farmers
By KRISTI PIHL Staff Reporter
Phil Nissley, foreman, (left) and his crew unclog one of the Twin City Foods pea combines Thursday. With the recent heat wave, some farmers have been forced to irrigate fields, while others have been harvesting crops sooner than expected.
For Elwyn Crutcher, of Stanwood, that has meant watering his fields a bit to compensate for the dry weather. Crutcher said he had to irrigate his hayfield so that his production would be as planned.
He grows peas, wheat, hay, field corn and vegetables for seeds.
Thus far, it has been the driest June and July in Western Washington on record since 1951.
For Twin City Foods, the peas have been ripening faster due to the heat, said Kirk Edlund, Twin City Foods field department manager. Peas are a cool season crop.
"We are keeping up with them, but we are plenty busy," he said.
Edlund said he's never felt temperatures in Stanwood like he has the last week.
"It's not much good for anything," he said.
Twin City Foods contracts with local farmers to grow peas. The growers prepare the soil and plant the seeds, Edlund said.
After that, it becomes Twin City Foods' responsibility.
Company employees maintain the field, harvest and take the peas to the plant, where they are frozen.
The company contracts about 5,500 acres from Island Crossing in Arlington to Whatcom County, he said. They average about 20 million pounds of peas in a year.
Dale Slyngstad, of Simple Produce, has also noticed crops rapidly quicker. She grows a large number of vegetables, including cabbage, beans, summer squash, tomatoes and broccoli. In the fall, she also offers apples, garlic and winter squash.
The summer squash are growing huge, Slyndstad said. Her 44 tomato plants have also been responding well to the heat.
Slyngstad said she hasn't had too difficult of a time with the dry weather, since she installed a row crop drip system this year. Each row in her garden receives a slow drip of water when she turns the system on, she said.
"That's saved me this summer," she said.
Staff Reporter Kristi Pihl: 629-8066 ext. 125 or kpihl@scnews.com.
