Jun 24, 2009 3:46 pm US/Eastern
Wet Weather Hurting Mass. Farmers
Crops Are Rotting, Business Is Slow
NEEDHAM (WBZ) ―
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Wet weather is keeping some of the customers away at Volante Farms in Needham.
WBZ
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Some strawberries are rotting in the wet conditions before they can be picked.
WBZ
Many Massachusetts Farmers are growing concerned about the seemingly relentless rain the Bay State is experiencing. Rainfall amounts have varied across the state and while some areas have received less than two inches in the past week, cool and damp weather can cause crop diseases.
"Everything's stopped growing...it's just slowing down," said Dave Volante at Volante Farms in Needham.
Pickers have been working in rain suits for days at the farm. They need to pick crops such as strawberries before rotting sets in.
"You can see stuff like this too," said Volante pointing to a dark spot on a pea pod. "That's from the rain. A little bit of rot on that one. That's from the rain."
But while the crops being picked now are of excellent quality, fewer people than usual are buying them.
"That's the whole other thing. We're all retail here so people really don't want to go shop for vegetables in the rain," said Volante. "Even though business isn't great, because of the weather, you still have to pick...so you can get a second pick."
However, mud makes fields unworkable for planting crops, such as beans, that will be second-picked later in the season.
"Corn, we generally pick July 15th and that's one of our big crops that might be pushed back three or four days because of this period of weather now," said Volante.
The crop of umbrellas appeared more plentiful than produce at the farmer's market on Boston's City Hall Plaza Wednesday. If the rain were to continue, mildew and disease on plants would become greater concerns. But, carrots easier to pull from damp ground help optimism sprout.
"We'll have some beans Saturday or Sunday, hopefully, if it gets nice and warm," said Volante.
Another optimistic note, a spokesman for the state Department of Agricultural Resources says many Massachusetts farmers are seasoned by years of variable weather, have disease-resistant varieties and are offering sales on their crops at farm stands.
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