It has been a tough year for many farmers in our area. What began as a wet and cold spring eventually pivoted into a hot, dry summer, causing issues with some seasonal favorites such as sweet corn and stone fruit across our region.

John Morrisey is a second generation farmer in Palmyra and says that while he usually plants his first sweet corn the third week of April, they weren’t able to start until May 4th.

“We had a late start due to the weather in April. It was wet and cold and we couldn’t get on the ground.”

Morrisey says June wasn’t bad, but that once July hit, the first plantings got stressed, yielding just a small fraction of what they typically expect for the first crop. What was originally a 10 day delay in planting ending up being a 20 day delay by first harvest.

While the die-hard early sweet corn fans may have been disappointed, Morrisey reminds everyone that there’s a whole lot of season left and that “some of the best tasting varieties of corn are coming in right now.”

Over the past 60 years, the Morrisey family and similar farms have learned to think in terms of seasons, not single plantings, and that each year comes with its own challenges.

Ross Gantz of Newark says the late frost this spring played a major part in delaying and reducing yields for not only corn, but other crops as well. 

“That frost had a big impact on sweet corn,” Gantz shared, but he says other crops like potatoes and onions fared much better for his family’s farm.

While weather may have spared the heartier produce, Gantz says they still have to compete with Canadian imports, which he says makes it nearly impossible for local farmers to turn a profit, even during good years.

When it comes to fruit, Gantz says you may have trouble finding certain seasonal favorites.

“Any stone fruit will be tough. Cherries were hit especially hard this year.”

Gantz says the farms that do have crops this year will likely do very well as supply will be short. 

Thankfully he says “the apples are looking really good.” He also says their pumpkins and squash are on track to have a decent year.

Retired farmer Gary Orbaker has seen his fair share of ups and downs in his many years farming in Williamson. Although he sold his farm a few years back, he’s now a fresh market buyer of apples from Wayne County growers. While he says there are variations across our region, nearly every farm was affected in some way by this season’s weather.

"The freeze we had impacted every farm from Lake Ontario to Newark and beyond," Orbaker shared. "That being said, now that we’ve had plenty of rain the apples are growing."

While the rain certainly helps, some varieties rely on cross-pollination, so too much rain can actually wash out the pollen and make it harder for bees to locate the blossoms.

A few major processing varieties like the Idared are in shorter supply this year, but Orbaker assures local apple lovers that there are still bright spots.

"There will be plenty of apples for the consumer," he shared, with many of your favorites varieties seeing good yields this season.

Orbaker sends most of his locally purchased apples to Apple Acres in Fayetteville who is a major supplier for area Aldi stores.

Orbaker notes weather is just one of many factors driving up costs for local farmers, saying everything from diesel, chemicals and labor are up significantly this year.

Last week, New York State approved a disaster declaration for producers in the region, allowing farmers access to USDA emergency loans up to $500,000 with terms anywhere between one to 40 years.

Officials estimate producers lost more than $30 million from the extreme weather early in the year.

Josh Bowman is the Agricultural Economic Development Educator for Wayne County’s Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE). While each farm faces different conditions when it comes to planting, Bowman shared this year’s wet and cool spring had most area farmers starting later than usual.

Although weather is something that is hard to plan for year to year, Bowman says there are many resources, including through the CCE, that can help farmers throughout the production process.

"We provide technical assistance and education for farmers on a variety of things from business management and grant writing to crop and fertilization management," adding that other state and federal resources such as the NYS Ag and Markets organization and the Farm Service Agency in Lyons are great places to find assistance.

You can find more resources by visiting ccewayne.org and agriculture.ny.gov.

It’s not just produce that has had a tough time dealing with wet and changing weather here in New York.

Homeowners across our area have also seen leaves dropping sooner than they’re used to, with some municipalities beginning brush cleanup services earlier than they anticipated.

Tim Wenskus, a regional forester with the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) tells our news partner News10WHEC that maple trees were hit especially hard this year.

“In a normal year you have wet, you have dry, you have wet, you have dry… we’ve just had a long period this year — especially in the northern counties bordering the lake, that it’s just been so moist for so much of the year that the fungus had just had a chance to grow,” Wenskus said.