OSWEGO -- Friday was the first day we saw appreciable rain across the Central New York region in a while, which is especially important considering the record heat we experienced just last week.
In our "Facebook Story of the Day", you wanted to know how local farms survive in dry weather. Many small farmers have been struggling trying to keep their crops watered, but larger farms tell us that they don't have as many problems.
We contacted a couple of local agricultural landmarks to get their views on the recent dry spell. Ontario Orchards in the Town of Oswego has an irrigation system that has running since 1956. They get water from Sterling Creek and Lake Ontario to keep their crops growing. Ontario Orchards says their irrigation system is not expensive to maintain, so the dry weather may not have as big of an impact on them.
Reeves Farms in Baldwinsville says their biggest challenge in dry weather is running the pumps. 100 gallons of fuel are used per day to bring water to their farm. Their irrigation system has been constantly updated during the last 20 years, and costs somewhere between $100,000 and $200,000 to maintain.
Both farms say their crops have been growing well this year despite the recent dry weather.
Do you have a garden of your own at home? How do you keep it from drying out in the summer heat? Leave a comment below and share your tips!
If you would like to help choose our Facebook story of the day, log onto CNYcentral.com and click on the Facebook link. Or visit our Facebook page directly by clicking here. We'll post three story ideas every morning at 6:00, and let you decide which one we feature!
