Farmers along Long Island’s East End can be seen irrigating their fields more frequently as a result of the recent sweltering weather.
Jonathan Szjecki and his family have been farming the land in the East End for five generations. He says these drought conditions are typical of his August. He tries to keep his crops, vegetables and seedlings properly hydrated in these hot conditions by watering his fields almost constantly.
“Irrigation is a full-time job, so many other things start to take a back seat,” says Sujecki. “You are backed up and limited in what you can do in a day.”
Robert Nolan of Deer Run Farms says the recent heat is hurting his vegetables in Brookhaven.
“Yields have decreased,” says Nolan. “When the weather was cooler, the yield was high, 90-95%, now he’s 70-75%.”
Both Nolan and Suzecki say the wells don’t have enough water, but that diesel will have to be used to pump water out of the ground. They say this is causing the cost of irrigating the fields to rise rapidly.