CICERO, NY (WSYR-TV) – Given the recent dry weather throughout a good portion of the month of May, and with many dry days still to come across Central New York, the lack of rain may be unsettling to local farmers.
At William’s Farm in Cicero, there is one piece of technology that makes all the difference when dry weather settles in: the irrigation system.
Manager of William’s Farm Stand, Samantha Pietricola, says “we’ve been planting pretty much on time,” saying they can irrigate with pipes and hoses to fend off the potential impacts of dry weather spells.
Pietricola goes on to say that they actually prefer dry conditions, because being able to control the amount of water crops receive is easier than dealing with diseased plants when we receive a surplus of rainfall.
“We’re very fortunate because we have municipal water and we are allowed to hook up hydrants and meters,” Pietricola says.
You may think that this additional watering could be a financial burden to a farm like William’s, but Pietricola tells us, “our spray costs are up in a wet year and our water bills are up in a dry year, so really they balance out pretty even for us.”
Not every local farm is fortunate to have an irrigation system, however. Pietricola says without irrigation, a dry year could be devastating for a farm.
With not much in the way of rain this month, and no rainfall in sight for many days across our region, this could be a particularly bad period for those farmers.
As always, stay tuned to the latest Storm Team forecast to see when our next rain chances will arrive.
