Kaine Seeks Statewide Drought Disaster Declaration
posted 6:27 pm Fri October 12, 2007 - Richmond, Va.
legislation to give farmers direct aid rather than just loans.
Hotter than usual temperatures in addition to the dry weather have hurt crops such as cotton, corn and peanuts. Some areas are running out of water. Purcellville, in Loudoun County, only has 60 days of water left. The town's reservoir lakes are usually five feet deep, there's currently only one foot of water in them.
Town leaders says if it doesn't rain soon, it might have to start trucking in water from Leesburg, at a cost of $100,000 a month.
State agriculture officials say many crops are just literally burning up in the field.Peanuts were hit particularly hard, because the plants have been unable to push through the dry soil to form legumes underground. And many farmers plowed under their grain crops because the yield was so low.
However, pumpkins like dry weather at the end of their growing season. And wine grapes grew sweeter in the dry weather.
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