Hot, dry weather hits farmers hard

SPARTA, Mich. (WOOD) - The heat wave poses another threat to farmers already hit hard by this year's March warm spell and subsequent freezes.

More than a thousand acres of land make up May Farms near Sparta.

In March, Sparta-area farmer Jim May spent thousands of dollars burning hay to try to keep his early-blooming fruit crop alive during a hard frost.

After the March warmth and freezes, some Michigan fruit farms lost 90% or more of their crop -- so much that the federal government recently granted Michigan farmers emergency aid.

Now, May is now watching his corn crop shrivel in the sun.

"It's just as dry as you can make it. There's nothing there," he said.

This summer, drought means more mites eating up the trees and no moisture for the crops.

"There'd be nothing that would put a bigger smile on my face than to see it rain all day tomorrow, where I can get water into this corn to keep it going," said May.

If the heat and dry continues, May Farms could be looking at more than $1 million in losses this summer. It's a loss that'll take nearly a decade from which to recover.

"It's not just us," said Jim's wife Jackie May. "We got husbands and wives all over the area. It's one phone call after the other: 'How are you doing? How are you doing?' The weather just has not been kind to us at all."

The heat wave is nationwide, so farmers all over the Midwest are struggling.

May said everyone should expect to see a hike in most fruits, vegetables, milk and meat in the coming months.

"The prices in the store are going to go up because food is going to come from other places," said May.

And though irrigation provides much-needed water, it can cost up to tens of thousands of dollars. That means that fruits and vegetables will still cost more in the grocery store.

"I'm cranky. I don't know what to do," said May. "There's nothing I can do but watch my stuff die."