Laytonsville farmer George Lechlider, 86, has 51 years of farming experience under his belt, and he says this is the worst drought he’s ever seen.
“The soil is dry down so deep,” said Lechlider, the Montgomery Farm Bureau’s president. “The surface soil is just like powder. It’s dusty and when it rains, it just collects in a puddle and runs off the fields. It doesn’t soak into the ground.”
National Oceanic and Atmospheric meteorologist Christopher Strong said Montgomery has had 20 inches of rain this year, “6 or 7 inches” less than normal. A County Council Committee will meet today to decide whether to recommend a $1.5 million emergency assistance appropriation, sponsored by Council Member Mike Knapp and supported by County Executive Ike Leggett, for farmers hurt by the drought.
“It’s far more expensive to farm here than in Iowa or upstate New York because the land value and the cost of doing business is far more expensive,” Knapp said. “This relief gives them, economically and psychologically, the impression that the county where they live understands that what they’re doing is important.”
Montgomery County has 575 farmers, half of whom list farming as their primary source of income, and 10,000 residents who work in farming, according to Montgomery agricultural services manager Jeremy Criss.
Knapp and Criss say the emergency assistance would be available to farmers who apply on a “per crop per acre payment.” The county has provided assistance to farmers twice before, distributing $500,000 in 1997 among the 67 farmers who applied for aid and $1 million in 1999 to 95 farmers.
