ORWIGSBURG - The sweet corn crop planted in April at Harding's Farm in West Brunswick Township should be standing at least 5 feet high.
When Mark Harding, 19, son of Steve Harding who owns the family farm, walked past the corn rows Tuesday morning, the plants only came up to his waist.
"And there are no ears of corn on them," he said, explaining that recent heat waves and lack of rain have stunted their growth.
"Overall, we plant about five acres of sweet corn. We don't plant all of it at once. We planted some in April, then some in May and so forth. We might lose an acre this year. Not sure," Harding said Tuesday.
Steve Harding, 53, welcomed the brief downpour that fell Wednesday afternoon.
"I'll take rain any way we can get it," he said.
Steven C. Dunn Sr., owner of Dunn Fruit Farm, New Ringgold, has similar problems.
"I have one field of sweet corn that's more than four acres and it's not going to amount to anything. It didn't come up because of the dryness. There was too much against it. Another field of sweet corn on our farm needs moisture to grow. It's not so high. There's corn on them but the cobs aren't as big as it should be," Dunn said Tuesday.
"It'd be nice if we could get 1 to 2 inches of rain in the next two weeks. We could use more, but that would definitely help," Dunn said.
"If we don't get some rain soon, we're going to have some hurting fields," Dennis DiOrio, district conservationist for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Pottsville, said Tuesday.
"The drought is definitely affecting the corn, but not everything. But give us another month of drought like this and, yes, it will affect everything," Mark Harding said.
Steve Harding, said he's been farming for three decades.
Dunn, 48, said his family started his farm in 1954 and today, he farms on 125 acres.
There's a 60 percent chance of precipitation tonight and a 70 percent chance of precipitation Friday, according to the website for the National Weather Service, State College.
According to The Associated Press, more than half of the United States is in some stage of drought, while the rest is enduring abnormally dry conditions.
On Wednesday, stream flow in Schuylkill County remained normal, according to the website for the U.S. Geological Survey.
Thus far, the state Department of Environmental Protection has not issued a drought warning for Schuylkill County, John Matz, emergency management coordinator for the Schuylkill County Emergency Management Agency, Pottsville, said Tuesday.
The extreme heat has had only a slight effect on local reservoirs, according to Patrick M. Caulfield, executive director of the Schuylkill County Municipal Authority, Pottsville.
"This year, we were at full capacity, 100 percent, through June 29. As is common with this time of year, the lack of precipitation, warm temperatures and increased evaporation rates cause the reservoirs to begin depleting capacity. As of July 17, our capacity has dropped to 97.82 percent," Caulfield said Tuesday.
"The groundwater levels in our wells have slowly decreased with the dry conditions and lack of recharge from precipitation. Although we are not yet at drought stage, we always urge customers to conserve water and look forward to some steady seasonal precipitation so that the potential for drought conditions is diminished," Caulfield said.
Meanwhile, farmers feel the heat.
"Corn in general, including field corn, is going to take a hit without a doubt," DiOrio said.
"The rain on Sunday did help. We got 6/10 of an inch. But we still need more rain," Mark Harding said.
"The inch we got on Sunday really helped. That's a start. Now if you irrigate, you can help some crops come back a little quicker. If we don't get rain soon, it's going to be too late for some crops," Dunn said.
Nevertheless, with the use of modern irrigation, some dryness can be tolerated and is even desirable.
"With the farming that I do, I usually prefer a dry year over a wet year," Steve Harding said Tuesday.
He's referring to a drip irrigation system which feeds the roots of plants including tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, watermelon, cantaloupe and cucumbers.
"Some people may think I love this weather we've been having. But no. This is a little extreme."
However, "Last year was the worst year I've had in farming, period. It rained every three days, and that's no good. Sunlight is everything," Steve Harding said.
But Dunn and Harding said they don't usually use the irrigation system for sweet corn, pumpkins and orchard crops because it is too expensive.
"For me, it's because of cost. It's also because I don't have the water source. But I don't know anybody who does a drip irrigation system with sweet corn," Steve Harding said.
"But so far this is one of the best years for plums and peaches. Tree fruits in general and apples, too. The peaches are little smaller than usual because there's no rain," Mark Harding said.
"The apple crop looks very good, exceptional. The reason the orchard tree fruit survives is because the trees have deeper roots than some other crops. But if I don't get rain in the next three of four days, the pumpkins are young enough. They'll be fine. And the tree fruits will be a little bit smaller," Steve Harding said.
Like the Hardings, Dunn also uses a drip irrigation system with some crops, but not all.
"We have 30-some acres of pumpkins. They need rain. Everything needs it, from our fall apples to our late sweet corn. I hope the whole country will get some rain. There are some farmers out west and, man, they're losing millions of acres and millions of dollars. They're mowing their corn crops down because they're completely dead," Dunn said.