Fred Slezak has had plenty of time this spring to "sharpen the ax."
An extraordinarily wet start to the year has kept farmers like him in the barn fixing equipment and out of the fields -- unable to plant what the government estimates could be one of the most profitable crops in years, and possibly one of the smallest, too.
Farmers across Pennsylvania are in a holding pattern that may reverberate throughout the summer as fewer and more expensive crops make it to market later than usual. In the end, it could push up prices for consumers and cut into income for farms -- or the weather could turn and salvage what is starting off as a rough year.
"I guess you just have to be a little patient," Mr. Slezak said.
Mr. Slezak has had time to learn patience. Now 56, he has been farming in Salem Township since he was 16, full-time since he graduated from Penn State in 1976. "Normally in this neighborhood people have corn planted before the first of May."
A grain farmer, he picks up extra work outside of his own land doing custom work -- planting and fertilizing -- for other farmers. None of that is happening, though, until the fields finally dry out.
Since March 1, the Pittsburgh office of the National Weather Service has recorded 11.1 inches of rain, which is 4.37 inches or 65 percent more than normally would have fallen in that time. The last spell of three days or more without a measurable rainfall ended March 30.
"We're definitely seeing a serious delay in getting out to do field work," said Gary Sheppard, the county extension director for Westmoreland County.
Farmers can't get out into the fields, even to fertilize with manure, because driving onto the wet fields will compact the soil.
Mr. Slezak said when the soil is compacted, the pressure squeezes out the oxygen that the roots need and the plants will not grow well.
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