22 August 2023
MANHATTAN (KSNT) – With temperatures in the triple digits across the state, 27 News met up with local farmers to find out how damaging the mid-August heatwave has been.
What was looking like one of the best seasons for multiple crops, took a sharp turn for the worse.
“I’ve seen it hot but I’ve never ever seen it this bad for this long,” A and H Co-owner Andrea Dejesus said. “You might have a day that hits 110 but we’ve had multiple days that are hitting that. With the record 115 Saturday, it’s just miserable out there.”
That misery comes with heartbreak, with rows of tomatoes becoming sunburnt and thousands of watermelons dead at A and H alone. The timing of the heatwave contributed to the massive loss of crops across the state.
“Earlier in the season actually would have been better,”Dejesus said. “We’re getting later in the season, so your plants aren’t as healthy this late in the season, they have less coverage. You think about your flowers your budding plants, they look prettier earlier on and as they go through the season they aren’t as healthy, they’re later on in their life cycle. It’s the same with plants.”
“When it gets hot and dry, sudden death syndrome starts coming up.” Kansas Farmer Gary Robbins said. “If you go by and you see bean leaves just turn brown, you know you’ve got sudden death. I know the Kansas river bottoms got it pretty bad, but we’re starting to get it up here in the hills now.”
With the intense heat, it’s not just crops of soybeans, corn, tomatoes or watermelon being impacted. With 100+ degree days farmer safety is also a huge concern.
“Working on the combine down here and my combine guy he already started getting over heated, it’s like 10 o’clock in the morning so he decided to leave,” Robbins said. “We got a swather that’s got a bolt broken, it’s too hot to work on any of that stuff. You either have to wait until early in the morning to work on anything or in the evenings, but even the evenings are not getting cooled down enough.”
The main advice both sets of farmers had, take it easy on your team and yourself. Mother nature and Kansas weather will fluctuate, safety always comes first.