Harvest heat: Crops have ripened faster, farmers concerned by drought

By John Howell
Posted 8/25/16

By JOHN HOWELL Turn up the heat and vegetables go into overdrive. That's just what local farmers have been faced with in the past couple of weeks. Of course, it hasn't helped that along with higher temperatures there's been a lack of rain, except for a

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Harvest heat: Crops have ripened faster, farmers concerned by drought

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Turn up the heat and vegetables go into overdrive.

That’s just what local farmers have been faced with in the past couple of weeks. Of course, it hasn’t helped that along with higher temperatures there’s been a lack of rain, except for a few localized downpours that really don’t percolate into the ground.

“The heat is pushing everything,” John “Pete” Morris said Friday morning as he took a break from transferring produce from the back of a truck into a cooler alongside the Morris roadside stand on Warwick Avenue.

Vegetables have been growing and ripening quicker than had temperatures been more normal for July. Testimony to the overflowing cornucopia was all around him – sacks stuffed with corn, boxes of red tomatoes as large as softballs, stacks of squash and red and green peppers.

It’s been a good crop and it’s pretty much come all at once. Butter and sugar corn that Morris planted in late spring with the expectation it would be ripe in another two weeks is being picked now. And a couple of cornfields bordering Hendricken High School appear to have been cooked by the heat. Stalks have yellowed and leaves have browned.

Don’t fear; you haven’t missed the corn. Morris said the crop is good and what rain we’ve had has come at the right time, at least for him.

“The perfect scenario would be for it to rain every night all night long,” he said with a laugh.

Dried cornstalks are not the evidence of drought, although rainfall is down and the governor announced a drought advisory last week. Rather, these are fields that have been harvested and are waiting to be ground into feed for Morris’ black angus cattle.

The availability of water has been a concern for the far larger Confreda Farm with operations in Warwick and Cranston. One of two ponds at the Cranston operation is a good 10 feet below its waterline and no longer being pumped. The other, rocks showing, has another two to three weeks’ supply.

Vincent Confreda Jr. said with the level of groundwater down and sporadic rain, the water isn’t coming back right now. Nonetheless, the harvest is in full swing. Confreda’s alarm goes off at 2 a.m. these days, and after checking orders and equipment he’s driving the corn harvester before the morning sky brightens. By 5:30 a.m. crews are bagging corn for pickup starting a half hour later. At this time of year and depending on orders, Confreda harvests 600 bags of corn, with each bag containing five-dozen ears of corn. That’s a total of 36,000 ears of corn a day.

Local markets and stores are buying the produce and it is sold from Confreda’s retail operation on Scituate Avenue. Between their own fields and those they lease, Confreda is harvesting from about 400 acres. They operate with a crew of about 50.

The heat and lack of water has made it difficult. The abundance of the harvest, since farmers everywhere are experiencing the same glut is depressing wholesale prices. In some instances, said Confreda, it doesn’t make sense to pick a crop because prices have dropped so low.

Both Morris and Confreda use a drip system to irrigate their fields. The system conserves water and can be regulated to give plants just what they need. The system is also used to fertilize the plants. Confreda said he takes tissue samples of the plants and tests them. That determines what nutrients need to be added to the water to maximize the produce. Too much fertilizer, Confreda said, and a pepper plant will grow tall while the fruit will be small. With the proper mix the growth goes into the fruit.

With such heat, Confreda said, tomatoes not only ripen faster but can “cook” in the field if not picked in time. The heat has also affected the summer squash, causing blossoms to fall off and as much as a 50-percent decline in the harvest.

With an eye on costs, the Confredas are constantly looking at ways to conserve while maximizing income. Corn planting, for example, starts in mid-April and runs through mid-July so that fresh corn is available up to Halloween. Then, starting in late September, parts of the Cranston farm are transformed into Scary Acres, with the farm hiring as many as 60 part-time actors to play roles in sets that have been designed and built over the year.

Morris has likewise found income-generating alternatives to farming. He said the corn maze is flourishing and he plans on running that again this year in addition to the popular sale of pumpkins and mums.

Working with a cranberry grower, Confreda and his three sons, who he sees as the next generation of farmers, are exploring how to juice tomatoes that are spotted and can’t be used for wholesale or retail and are now going to waste. He is hopeful in another month to add juice and tomato sauce to the line of produce.

With a decline in temperature in the last week, both Morris and Confreda are breathing easier. But rain is on both their minds.

“It’s starting to get a little nerve wracking,” Confreda confessed. It needs to be right amount of rain, too.

“Too much rain and the plants rot in the field,” he said. “I pray to God all the time for rain once a week from 8 at night to 2 in the morning. God is not going to give us that. He wants us to work [maybe, worry would be a better word] a little bit more.”

A FARMER’S OPTIMISM:

John Morris said this year has brought a good harvest, although it has come in faster than he would have wished for. Don’t worry, he assures, the corn season is far from over. FRESH FROM THE FIELD:

Ann Sullivan works the Morris stand. Here, she chats with Jeanne Townsend, one of many regular customers. (Warwick Beacon photos) YES, THERE’S FRESH CORN:

Once the corn has been picked, the stalks are left to dry out before being ground up as feed for the Morris herd of black angus. CORN MOUNTAIN:

Working in the early morning hours, a Confreda crew sorts, counts and bags freshly picked corn for shipping to Shaw’s, Whole Foods and other markets. This was the scene at 6:15 a.m. Saturday.

TAKING A REST:

Confreda has ceased pumping from this pond while depending a second pond to irrigate fields of produce.

PEPPERS BY THE HANDFUL:

Peppers grown on Confreda fields in Warwick are washed and boxed before leaving the Cranston operation Saturday morning. During the harvest, which will run into the fall, the process is repeated daily seven days a week.

FLOWERS FOR A DELICACY:

Rogelia Castro prepares to box a bouquet of squash flowers – only the male flowers are picked – that make for specialty dishes in many of Rhode Island’s finer restaurants.

FOR RETAIL SALE:

Vincent Confreda is seen beside a field of Mirai corn, a yellow sweet corn that he said has a good shelf life and brings in customers from as far away as Cape Cod. The corn is handpicked and found at the farm store on Scituate Avenue in Cranston.

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