May 3, 2007
Dawson-- The hot, dry weather is starting to take a toll on south Georgia crops. Many fields haven't gotten a drop of rain in several weeks. If things don't change soon. It could be a bad year for farmers.
Brian Massey takes pleasure in farming. He's being doing what he loves now for nearly twenty years. "I like to do the planting. We grow cotton, corn, soy beans, and wheat. I like to put the seed in the ground and see it grow," he says.
But if you ask him how he feels about farming today, he'll tell you: "Miserable. You can't get nothing done," he says.
Blame it on the lack of rain. "We can't get the dry land planted. We can only plant the irrigated. Starting the year off bad," he says.
Up until recently Massey only irrigated his crops once a week, but with the dry spell he's having to do so pretty much every day. "We just watered this just earlier today. As you can, it's a little dusty now. That's how hot and dry it is. It doesn't take long for that moisture to leave here," he says.
And if things don't get better soon, don't expect farmers to be the only ones suffering--so will consumers. "It'll affect everybody. If we don't make any corn, you can't feed the cows that produce beef, milk, and everything. Everything will go up," he says.
With 75 acres of corn already planted and soon even cotton. Massey is keeping his fingers cross in hopes that the sky will soon send down a much needed gift.
"Just want some rain," he says. Because his crops are certainly thirsting for it.
Since the drought began, Massey's irrigation system has pumped out 650 gallons of water a minute every day to make sure his crops survive.
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