Lack of rain has farmers 'a bit anxious' after weeks of hot sunny days

As beach goers are enjoying weeks ofhot sunny days, farmers are starting to feel a bit nervous about the lack of rain.

"The ground is almost powder dry right now, " said Jason Hayden, chair of the P.E.I. Potato Board.

"It needs another shot of rain soon."

Hayden said some potato fields are beginning toshowa bit of stress from the hot temperatures and windy days.

"We are well overdue for a good shower of rain," he said."A nice daylong gentle rain would be ideal."

Still optimistic

David Mol, a grain farmer and president of the P.E.I. Federation of Agriculture, said it's not as dry as last summer so he's trying to remainoptimisticfor now.

He saidthe hot weather has allowed many farmersto catch up after a colder spring, but now they are keeping a close eye onthe sky hoping for rain.

"It's made us a bit anxious," saidMol."I'm going to say that we're still OK,at least most parts of the Island."

Mol said at the same time heworries drought is just around the corner.

He said crops like soybeans, grain crops, corn and potatoes will suffer if precipitation doesn't come.

"Especially if we get a lot of wind during the day, in a week's time we're going to start to see some wilting," he said.

He said the cooler nights and heavy dew are helpingfor now.

Risk of lower yields

Hayden said the potato yield across P.E.I. has been down for the last two years.

"I suppose the same thing would happen again this year, if rain doesn't show up here in August."

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