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The increased amount of rain that has fallen in Churchill County this month is affecting local farmers and ranchers, and the National Weather Service in Reno reports the rains will continue into the weekend.
Meteorologist Brian O'Hara said a high front will move into Churchill County on Sunday, and he thinks the weather will change because of that.
“On Sunday and Monday, we will have a less chance of rain,” he said, adding the amounts of rain that has fallen in Northern Nevada this month is “out of the ordinary.”
The NWS is reporting .79 inches of rain have fallen so far this month. By comparison, 1.59 inches of rain have dropped in Reno, causing the city to experience one of its wettest Junes on record.
Fallon farmer Norm Frey said the rain has helped him in some ways but hurt him in other ways. He said ranchers with their hay down are seeing the quality of their crop decrease, which is resulting in the product selling for reduced prices.
But Frey said he has saved on water irrigation for alfalfa and other crops. For example, Frey last irrigated his corn on May 12.
“It cuts down on labor and in a drought like this, it saves water so can grow crops at 100 percent,” he said. The unfortunate thing, Frey said, is farmers had no way of knowing this amount of rain would come.
“I already set plans at 80 percent and increased it to 90 percent.” he said.
Frey said he would have planned differently if he knew there was going to be an abundance of water for his crops.
“I probably would have planted more agriculture back in April,” he said, mentioning he has 130 acres sitting idle.
“It's the wettest month I can remember, but the weather changes all the time,” Frey said. “You adapt to it.”
Jay Davison, University of Nevada Cooperative crop and foliage expert, said the recent rains are a catch-22 situation.
“For plant growth, the rains and weather has been ideal,” he said. “On the other hand, all the alfalfa has been processed. It has been an absolute disaster for anyone that had hay down.”
Davison said the problem is compounded by the fact hay prices are already way down. He added when hay is bleached by rain, it diminishes the quality and makes it worth much less.
“It has been a real disaster,” he said. “We need three to four days of hot weather to bail it. It's a longer exposure time because of the rain.”
He said the timing could not have been worse for farmers because June is an extremely important month for harvesting.
He said the plants are flowering, and this shows the product has a little more yield with a dramatic drop in quality.
Lahontan Reservoir has increased its storage from 144,392 acre feet on June 1 to 160,441 acre feet on Thursday. Although runoff from the Sierra Nevada has added some water to Lahontan, the lack of demand for irrigation water has caused the reservoir to increase by 20,000 acre feet.
“Many farmers have postponed irrigation, (because of the rain)” said Dave Overvold, project manager for the Truckee Carson Irrigation District.
He said Lahontan, which can hold 295,000 acre feet, has filled to about 54 percent of capacity.
However, Overvold and Walt Winder, TCID's Operations and Maintenance supervisor, said the rain has delayed farmers in cutting their first crop of hay.
Once the first crop of hay is cut, and the weather warms up, Winder sees a different picture.
“We'll see an increased demand (for water),” Winder said. Instead of people spacing out (water orders), they'll be bunched up, and we'll have a lot of orders to deliver at once.”
Meteorologist Brian O'Hara said a high front will move into Churchill County on Sunday, and he thinks the weather will change because of that.
“On Sunday and Monday, we will have a less chance of rain,” he said, adding the amounts of rain that has fallen in Northern Nevada this month is “out of the ordinary.”
The NWS is reporting .79 inches of rain have fallen so far this month. By comparison, 1.59 inches of rain have dropped in Reno, causing the city to experience one of its wettest Junes on record.
Fallon farmer Norm Frey said the rain has helped him in some ways but hurt him in other ways. He said ranchers with their hay down are seeing the quality of their crop decrease, which is resulting in the product selling for reduced prices.
But Frey said he has saved on water irrigation for alfalfa and other crops. For example, Frey last irrigated his corn on May 12.
“It cuts down on labor and in a drought like this, it saves water so can grow crops at 100 percent,” he said. The unfortunate thing, Frey said, is farmers had no way of knowing this amount of rain would come.
“I already set plans at 80 percent and increased it to 90 percent.” he said.
Frey said he would have planned differently if he knew there was going to be an abundance of water for his crops.
“I probably would have planted more agriculture back in April,” he said, mentioning he has 130 acres sitting idle.
“It's the wettest month I can remember, but the weather changes all the time,” Frey said. “You adapt to it.”
Jay Davison, University of Nevada Cooperative crop and foliage expert, said the recent rains are a catch-22 situation.
“For plant growth, the rains and weather has been ideal,” he said. “On the other hand, all the alfalfa has been processed. It has been an absolute disaster for anyone that had hay down.”
Davison said the problem is compounded by the fact hay prices are already way down. He added when hay is bleached by rain, it diminishes the quality and makes it worth much less.
“It has been a real disaster,” he said. “We need three to four days of hot weather to bail it. It's a longer exposure time because of the rain.”
He said the timing could not have been worse for farmers because June is an extremely important month for harvesting.
He said the plants are flowering, and this shows the product has a little more yield with a dramatic drop in quality.
Lahontan Reservoir has increased its storage from 144,392 acre feet on June 1 to 160,441 acre feet on Thursday. Although runoff from the Sierra Nevada has added some water to Lahontan, the lack of demand for irrigation water has caused the reservoir to increase by 20,000 acre feet.
“Many farmers have postponed irrigation, (because of the rain)” said Dave Overvold, project manager for the Truckee Carson Irrigation District.
He said Lahontan, which can hold 295,000 acre feet, has filled to about 54 percent of capacity.
However, Overvold and Walt Winder, TCID's Operations and Maintenance supervisor, said the rain has delayed farmers in cutting their first crop of hay.
Once the first crop of hay is cut, and the weather warms up, Winder sees a different picture.
“We'll see an increased demand (for water),” Winder said. Instead of people spacing out (water orders), they'll be bunched up, and we'll have a lot of orders to deliver at once.”
