52 weeks ago today, July 4, Independence Day, 2009, it was a mostly sunny day and breezy. The high temperature was 82 degrees Fahrenheit with no precipitation. And 52 weeks ago, it was an average day for the season.
Today, July 4, 2010, was sunny and hot. The high temperature was 97.1 degrees Fahrenheit with no precipitation. And for this current season, it was an average day.
The difference between last year and this year is extremely vast for a farmer such as my occupation is termed. Last year, for those of us who toil in the soil, the season was especially mild, extremely mild. In fact, after the fall dissipated into winter, it was quite apparent that it was a year without summer.
In late April, more specifically April 26, the temperature rose to 92.4F. That is quite hot for a spring day, and as the following day was 93.1F, it almost boded for a long hot year. But such was not to be the case. The next day that registered a temperature over 90F was August 10, when the temperature reached 91F. On August 16, the temperature was 91.4F, followed the next day by the year high of 95.1F. For the most part, the temperature averaged in the low to mid 80s throughout the “hot” days of the summer. It was a strange year that caused most of us farmers to question: who turned off the heat? But that was last year.
2010. Let’s start with June 4, the last time over an inch of rain fell so far this season. Actually, let’s start with the first 90 degree day, which was April 7. It was sunny and reached 92.1F that early spring day. (Now that should have boded what was to come!) On May 27, the temperature reached 90.8F. But all of this is a digression.
On June 4, 1 ¼ inches of rain fell despite a partially sunny day and a temperature of 87.9F. The average temperature was already the mid 80s. Admittedly at that point, the season appeared rather promising. And on June 9, when ¼ inch of rain fell with a 65.3F high, who knew that would be the last measurable amount of rain up to this very day? It was not until the 13th that 90 degrees appeared again. Would that be a short aberration? No. 6/19: 91F. 6/20: 96F. 6/21: 95.1F. 6/22: A reprieve! 89.6F. 6/23: 95.7F. 6/24: 91.9F. 6/25: 95.1F. 6/26: Another reprieve! 87.9F. 6/27: 92.4F. 6/28: 90.6F. 6/29: 94.1F. A cold spell! 6/30: 84F. 7/1: 85F. 7/2: 89.2F. Back to the same old… 7/3: 93.5F. 7/4: 97.1. I will stop here as the hundred degree forecast looms… Did I mention there has been no rain?
So what is at play here? How can one season be so disparate from another? Let me rephrase that to sound more scientific. How can one season in a particular area of the globe during the same days and months of a yearly cycle be so disparate from another in the same locale and time period? Is there an easy answer to that question?
Probably not, but luckily for farmers, we are not required to find an answer to the question. No, farmers are required to deal with weather fluctuations no matter what they are. If a year like 2009 brings a summer much like one normal for Vermont, we deal with it. And if a year like 2010 brings a summer much like one normal for Texas, that is, the really, really dry part of Texas, we deal with that also. This is very difficult to get the uninitiated to understand. Let’s see, it would be like an athlete showing up at the arena without knowing what sport will be competed. Could it be baseball? Or football? Or badminton? Sure the athlete can play all of the sports, but it is difficult to mentally prepare for the competition when the gym bag has both cleats and a racket.
Nonetheless, such uncontrollable fluctuations are a yearly ordeal for the farmer, and rest assured, most farmers willingly voice dismay over those ordeals. Whether it is a summer-less year or an arid, desert creating year, there is always room for a complaint. Indeed, every season as I talk with fellow farmers, the statement, “This is the worst year ever,” always seems to arise. Perhaps in that venue, 52 weeks do not make much of a difference. Did I mention there has been no rain?