Morgan Slaven feeds her ewes, or female sheep, at her Augusta County farm. (Charlie Paullin/Virginia Mercury)
Morgan Slaven runs a sheep farm in Augusta County, where her family has been across different operations for seven generations, now with her nieces pitching in.
This year, Slaven was grateful because of her “off farm job” to generate income after drought conditions, presenting back to back years of challenges ahead of this year’s harvest season.
“What if I lost my job?” said Slaven, who works with Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative. “The only reason I have this place right now is because I have an off-the-farm income.”
Record drought hit Virginia this past summer, impacting profits in the largest economic sector in the state, even though programs are available at the federal level to offset losses.
According to the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, agriculture contributes about $82.3 billion annually to the economy with more than 381,800 jobs.
But temperatures reaching 99 degrees twice at the end of June in the Lynchburg area, with no rain and strong winds, pinched farmers’ pockets putting an emphasis on assistance programs.
“We have a lot of claims,” said Danielle Bappert, regional crop agent for Virginia Farm Bureau Crop Insurance program. “Yeah, it’s definitely tough this year.”
The drought
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality manages dry spells through the Drought Monitoring Task Force, a collection of other state agencies, which issued advisories that got put in place, expanded, lifted and put in place again.
On June 24, the task force placed a warning, which indicated that “a significant drought is imminent,” impacting 12 counties, mainly in Northern Virginia and the Northern Shenandoah Valley.
Less than a month later, the warning expanded to 60 counties.
A map of drought advisories in Virginia. (Courtesy of Department of Environmental Quality)
Conditions persisted until tropical Storm Debby hit the area in early August with about 7-10 inches over a few days. The task force then lifted 76 of the drought warnings, and watches, which is a less severe advisory.
But then in September, more severe warnings were issued for the northern Shenandoah Valley. Following Hurricane Helene, which hit the region at the end of September, the task force moved the warnings to less severe watches.
Similar to what is being seen on a planetary level, these trends were hamstrung by dry conditions at the start, said Weeden Cloe, manager of the office of water supply at the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.
“We were hoping that there would be a very wet winter, with significant recharge for the groundwater, but it wasn’t really enough to bring groundwater levels to a point where they were able to be normal for this year,” said Cloe. “They were almost operating right off the bat in a deficit. This year, they dropped down very fast. In the Shenandoah Valley, they really haven’t popped back up until now.
Dry conditions
The drought this year hurt sheep farmers, and the corn and bean commodities Virginia is known for.
Slaven, on her 68 acres, has about 55 ewes, or female sheep, for breeding that she fully rotates around her pastures every four to six weeks so they don’t nibble too far down on the grass where parasites are, and so the grass can recover.
Morgan Slaven’s farm in Augusta County. (Charlie Paullin/Virginia Mercury)
Last year, Slaven managed her father’s cattle and split the profits, which are supposed to be about 60 cents per pound the gain. The rate is supposed to be 2 pounds every day, but hers only gained about 15 pounds over 90 days.
This year, she went into a partnership with another farmer to take 40% of a hay crop to ensure feeding. But she skipped the first, early season harvesting with hopes to take the second and third cuts. The drought caused those to never come, and she had to spend between $150 and $200 a week on feed at the store to make up for food.
“It feels like why am I doing this, because the mortgage payment is still the same,” Slaven said.
The effects of the dry spells can be felt with commodities, according to the United States Department of Agriculture National Ag Statistics, which said in October that corn yields were estimated to be 36.1 million bushels, down 38% from the 2023 level. Soybeans are forecast to be up 22% from last year.
Whereas beans “idle” throughout the season, Robert Harper, a grain marketing specialist at the Virginia Farm Bureau, said that corn is “like a running back in the NFL, it’s explosive, it’s strong, and quick and fast.”
A corn field in Augusta County. (Charlie Paullin/Virginia Mercury)
In June, the lack of moisture and the warm night time temperatures not getting below 85 degrees meant the corn never pollinated or “silked” to produce its ear. When the rain came in July, the crop had already missed its chance to grow an ear, Harper said. Downpours came that did some damage.
“It’s a half a crop at best, and it’s highly damaged,” said Harper. “It’s a year of extremes. It seems like we’re just getting these cyclical weather patterns, and we get stuck in them.”
Programs for help
Assistance is there for the taking, but some may be reluctant to use it, and it may only allow farmers to break even.
In order to get help, the USDA issued a primary natural disaster designation for 15 counties, which allows for emergency loans.
Slaven tapped into disaster assistance, because she was paying the expenses out of pocket for feed instead of relying on naturally growing grass.
“People have a lot of pride, they don’t want to take donations, but it’s there, because your tax dollars are paying for it,” Slaven said.
Bales of hay in Augusta County. (Charlie Paullin/Virginia Mercury)
There is also farmers insurance, which is similar to a health policy by having farmers pay into it then get compensated by the government, Bappert said.
A “vast majority,” of clients will be filing a claim this year, Bappert said, adding that insurance and meeting environmental standards is a prerequisite to become eligible for Emergency Relief Program payments.
Del. Michael Webert, R-Fauquier, a farmer who faced similar feed shortages for his livestock, which forced him to buy 100 bales at $50 a piece in July, said the insurance can help producers break even.
“If you do that correctly, you don’t lose money,” Webert said. “You don’t make money, but you don’t lose money.”
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