WASHINGTON – The drought slashed Maryland’s corn and soybean harvests nearly in half last year, to their lowest levels in more than a decade, according to a report released Friday.
Maryland’s corn yield, 76 bushels per acre, was the lowest since 1988, and the soybean yield, 23 bushels per acre, was the lowest since 1987, according to the final 2002 numbers released by the National Agricultural Statistics Service.
“It was probably the worst year I have seen personally as far as drought is concerned,” said Bob Tibbs, who has been farming in Harford County since 1962.
Tibbs said his corn and soybean crops were “all over the board.” Corn planted early did well, since there was enough moisture in the ground to get it started, and the shade those stalks produced kept the ground from drying out.
By mid-May the ground was very dry, howeverr, and the corn he planted in midsummer fared poorly.
“What you’ll see is a very dismal picture,” said David Knopf, NASS statistician. “It was an ugly year, one of the worst in several years.”
Overall corn production fell from 55.8 million bushels in 2001 to 32.3 million bushels in 2002, and the yield of corn for grain dropped 44.1 percent, from 136 bushels per acre in 2001.
Soybean production fell from 20.1 million bushels to 10.8 million bushel, while the yield dropped 41.0 percent, from 39 bushels per acre.
Nationwide, the corn and soybean yields dropped 5.9 percent and 4.5 percent, respectively, according to the report.
New Jersey, South Carolina and Virginia had larger drops in corn production than Maryland, but the state’s soybean drop was the largest in the country. Virginia had a drop of 35.2 percent and Delaware a 35.9 percent drop.
Yields also fell from 2000 to 2001, but by a much smaller amount. The poor 2002 harvest followed a year of little rain in the region.
“The drought really started last fall,” said John Hall, Kent County extension agent. “We didn’t really get any significant moisture.”
Tom Martin, who grows corn and beans in Harford County, said that 2002 was the worst part of a drought that had been building for the past two years. The dry summer followed by fall’s rains reduced his corn crop by 30 to 40 percent, he said.
The drought hurt corn and soybeans more than other crops.
The tobacco yield, 1,400 pounds per acre, was down slightly from 1,500 pounds per acre in 2001. However, the total production dropped from 3.3 million to 2.38 million pounds because fewer acres were planted.
Hay yields remained about the same as in 2001, in part because the hay- growing areas of Western Maryland got a little more moisture than the corn and soybean regions on the Eastern Shore, Knopf said.
The mild spring also allowed many farmers to get in a normal first cutting of hay. Since many farmers only cut hay once, the later drought had little effect on total hay production, Knopf said.
Tibbs said his first hay cutting was “very good because we had enough moisture in the ground.” But the next two cuttings were down because the ground had dried out. Once the fall rains began, the hay harvest improved, he said.
Although Hall called 2002 a “dismal” year, with huge losses and low prices, he expressed hope for the future.
“We’re eternally optimistic in the farming community. Next year it’s got to be better,” he said.