The drought last fall turned into a dry winter that morphed into an extra-dry spring and now another drought.
The lack of water affects everyone sooner or later, particularly farmers, who have trouble growing crops and feeding livestock, and barge operators, who move products like food around.
In the end, that affects the rest of us as the economic laws of waning supply and constant demand play out.
“Higher prices – that’s the ultimate effect for everyone,” said Kendra Graham, extension engagement specialist for the University Extension Service.
Unfortunately, the outlook is not encouraging, she said.
“The drought numbers were just released (by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources),” she said on June 9, “and Jefferson County was moved up from abnormally dry to moderate drought, which is certainly not a good sign.”
The county remained under the moderate drought classification in the June 15 update.
Under moderate drought conditions, the threats of fire increase, pond and river levels decrease, and topsoil dries out, stressing plants, according to a federal scale developed by the National Drought Mitigation Center.
Debi Kelly, a horticultural specialist for the Extension Service, said she’s been keeping an eye on the drought numbers.
“If we don’t get some rain soon, we anticipate we’ll move into the next level (severe drought) soon, while the area of extreme drought in the middle of the state keeps getting larger,” Kelly said.
Warren Robinson, director of Jefferson County’s Office of Emergency Management, said the drought is on his radar.
“At this point, we’re continuing to monitor the situation,” he said. “We are abnormally dry for this time of the year.”
Robinson said Missouri is better off than some of the neighboring states affected by air currents from Canada, which has been battling a lot of wildfires.
“The National Weather Service tells us that air from the wildfires in Canada is affecting our air quality, not as bad as it does to our north, but to some extent,” Robinson said. “Local wildfires would definitely have an impact on our air quality.”
Herculaneum port still open
Jim McNichols, executive director of the Jefferson County Port Authority, said the Riverview Commerce Park port in Herculaneum continues to load and unload barges plying the Mississippi River.
“The river is probably a little higher than it was last fall,” he said. “The Corps (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) has maintained a river channel of at least 8 feet deep. If things get dryer, though, it will pose a problem, especially at locks and dams, where they’ll have to separate barge groups to get them through.”
McNichols said the riverboat dock at Kimmswick last saw a landing in July 2022 because the river is much shallower on the Missouri side there – the opposite is true at Herculaneum.
A landing is tentatively scheduled in Kimmswick for later this summer, but he said that may or may not happen.
Challenge for firefighters
As of now, Jefferson County hasn’t suffered from an inordinate number of brush fires, said Tom Fitzgerald, chief of the De Soto Rural Fire Protection District. His district’s 260 square miles includes roughly the southern third of the county, primarily agricultural and wooded areas.
“Right now in a normal year, we should be greened up and we would be responding to very few outside fires,” he said. “But that’s not the conditions now. It’s unusually dry and the humidity has been lower than usual, so we’re seeing more brush fires than you’d expect, but not anything we can’t handle.
“This year so far has been a tough one. Not necessarily a lot more calls right now, but in our agricultural areas, we’re heading into hay cutting season. Farmers, because their livelihoods are dependent on it, pay attention to the condition of their equipment. But if you get some bad bearings on a machine, or a spark out of an exhaust pipe and then you have dry brush, you have a fire.
“And that same condition exists when you’re parking vehicles on grass. In those areas, make sure that it’s well cut.”
Another challenge for firefighters
“And I hate to be a Debbie Downer,” Fitzgerald said, “but we’re also heading into fireworks season. We’re going to be at a higher risk over the next month or so.
“What would we recommend? Well, I’d say we’d prefer that you enjoy the fireworks displays that are staged by professionals. But we know that for some families, shooting off their own fireworks is something they’re going to do.
“So, if you’re going to do that, don’t shoot them off near vehicles or garages. Make sure you have a bucket of water that you can extinguish your used ones, including sparklers. Don’t just throw them in the trash. And have a separate water bucket for your duds. You really don’t want to throw them in the trash without extinguishing them, as they could ignite later, like after you’re all in bed and asleep. And don’t pick up those duds with your hands immediately. They could be very hot.
“But remember, especially when you’re shooting fireworks up into the air, that you don’t know where they’re landing, so keep a watchful eye out.”
Homeowners
The ongoing dry conditions also affect lawns.
“Those people who like to have a nice, green lawn all summer, things aren’t looking good,” Kelly said.
However, Kelly said if you’ve got a lawn of cool-water grass – grass that grows well in the spring and keeps its green throughout a normal summer – you shouldn’t mow it short. That kind of grass, you probably want to have your mower set so there’s 3 1/2 inches of blade. That way, it’s providing a little bit of shade for your topsoil and it’s a little cooler than the air temperature. Not a lot, but a little.”
Fitzgerald had another tip when it comes to mowing.
“After you’re done, clean your mower off of grass clippings and other material,” he said. “Better yet, leave it outside for at least an hour before you store it in your garage, if that’s what you do. An overheated engine, gasoline and dried grass clippings and a possible spark can lead to more than a brush fire. Now we’re talking about responding to a house fire.”
For those tending to gardens, Kelly recommends investing in a soaking hose, which has holes in it to allow water to leak out rather than spraying plants with a hose.
“Watering from above can cause fungus,” she said.
Other tips include watering in the morning rather than the evening, weeding your garden, mulching around root zones and watering slowly and deeply to allow water to infiltrate the soil and reach the roots.
Trees, too, need attention. Kelly suggested leaving a dribbling hose on for an hour at one spot along the drip line – that area where leaves no longer provide protection from the rain – and then moving the hose to the opposite side of the tree for another hour.
“I set my timer on my phone,” she said. “One day you can water at, say, 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock, and the next time at 6 o’clock and 12 o’clock.”
Alternately, she said, you can buy five-gallon plastic buckets and poke a couple of holes in the bottom, fill them up and set them along the drip line.
“You can do it with two buckets like you would a hose, or four buckets all at once,” she said. “The slow introduction of water (from the bucket or the hose) allows it to infiltrate the soil. If you just pour the bucket out, it will run off rather than soak in, especially with dry topsoil.”
Not sure about your soil’s moisture level? Kelly recommends the “screwdriver test.”
“Your soil may appear dry on top, but there might be adequate moisture beneath,” she said. “Poke a screwdriver into the soil and pull it out. If it comes out clean, the soil is dry and it’s time to water.”
Kelly recommends getting water into your soil as soon as possible.
“If we’re going to move into the next phase (severe drought), that means you’ll need even more water,” she said. “Get it done as soon as you can.”
Problems for farmers
Graham said the ongoing drought has had a multiplier effect on the county’s farmers.
“The problem now is that we had a dry fall, and the fields that were stressed then have not been able to rebound because we had a dry winter followed by a dry spring. Farmers are struggling with enough grass to feed their livestock,” she said.
“Farmers are cutting hay now, which is at least two weeks ahead of when they normally would. While they’re doing that to take advantage of the dry conditions, they’re getting 1/2 or some even 1/3 of the yield they’re accustomed to,” Graham said. “And they can’t supplement their hay supply by going on the market. If you can find it, it’s $75 a bale. Farmers can supplement their hay by buying grain, but those prices are high as well.”
The long-range effects of the drought may be more serious, she said.
“You’re likely to see a lot of family farmers getting out of the business. The average age of a family farmer is 60, and if they’re forced to sell their livestock because they can’t feed them, they’re not likely to go back. And land prices remain relatively high, so it’s another incentive to sell their land and retire.”
Graham encourages farmers to document their problems, including taking photos, and report them to the National Drought Mitigation Center.
“The more information the government can get will help when legislators decide about drought payments. They look at that stuff,” she said.
The link is droughtimpacts.unl.edu/Tools/ConditionMonitoringObservations.aspx.
Graham also suggested that anyone who wants more information about the drought can check out two sites: extension.missouri.edu/programs/drought-resources and ipm.missouri.edu/drought/.