Earl F. "Buddy" Hance, a fifth-generation Calvert County farmer, says he hasn't seen a drought like this in almost a quarter-century.
"My corn crop, I figure I've lost 80 to 90 percent," he said yesterday. "And soy, I have very limited potential for making a crop. We haven't had significant rainfall where I live for two months."
Hance, who is also Maryland's deputy secretary of agriculture, says the grim news is echoing across Maryland. Scant rainfall during the prime growing season has damaged as much as 60 percent of the corn crop and 50 percent of the soybeans, hay and pasture grass in Southern Maryland and the lower Eastern Shore.
Yesterday's thunderstorms, which briefly dumped rain in scattered pockets across the region, were nothing resembling drought relief. The National Weather Service said more teasing from isolated thunderstorms is expected today.
Around the region, suburban lawns have turned to straw, and officials have asked residents of Mount Airy, Westminster and Frederick to cut back on their water consumption as the dry weather enters its fourth month.
Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport has received barely half its average rainfall since May 1 - just 6 inches. Without an isolated thunderstorm at the airport July 10, that would be closer to 4 inches.
Nearly 85 percent of the state is in "moderate" to "severe" drought, up from 37 percent a week ago, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It's the third drought in Maryland since 2002.
Midsummer droughts aren't unusual here, said David Myers, the University of Maryland extension agent for Anne Arundel County. But this one started early, creating "real problems" for farmers, few of whom have crop insurance.
"We're going downhill," he said.
State agriculture officials are gathering crop damage reports and plan to report this week to Gov. Martin O'Malley. He will decide whether to seek a federal drought disaster declaration for portions of the state. That would make available a variety of federal loan programs and other policy changes to aid affected farmers.
"We're just concerned for our producers," Hance said. "We want to make sure we do everything we can to make sure they continue in business."
The USDA's weekly Drought Monitor map ranks conditions as "severe" in almost 10 percent of Maryland, including Charles, St. Mary's and southern Calvert counties.
The ratings take into account soil moisture, stream flow, precipitation and health of vegetation as measured by satellite imagery.
Drought in most of the rest of the state was rated "moderate." Far Western Maryland and the state's northeast corner - including northern Carroll, Baltimore and Kent counties, and all of Harford and Cecil counties - were ranked as merely "abnormally dry." Less than 1 percent of the state has had normal moisture.
So far, Maryland hasn't seen a rash of wildfires like those raging in drought-stricken Western states. But firefighters returned Monday to battle a stubborn wildfire near Bivalve in Wicomico County. The smoky blaze has charred up to 36 acres of parched woodlands in the past two weeks. No one has been injured, and no structures have burned.
A mandatory ban on the use of lawn sprinklers took effect at 6 o'clock last night in Mount Airy in Carroll County, strengthening voluntary curbs already in place. Westminster issued a voluntary watering ban July 13.
In Frederick yesterday, Mayor William J. Holtzinger asked residents to voluntarily stop watering lawns and their cars. Commercial car washes are not affected.
"If the dry weather continues, it may be necessary to put mandatory water use restrictions in place," the city's Web site warned. "Please use recycle[ed] ... water when possible to water plants, gardens, etc."
Baltimore County homeowners have watched their landscaping wither. In Sherry Sheedy's Reisterstown yard, the hostas are brown, the rhododendrons are parched, the zinnias have flopped and the lawn is a brittle brown.
When she and her husband moved here from Oklahoma in 1964, the retired teacher was surprised by Maryland's lush green vistas. "But this summer looks more like Oklahoma," she said.
Bryan Butler, the extension director in Carroll County, said the drought appears worst in a strip between New Windsor and Taneytown. Some spots have received barely an inch of rain since April. Ponds and ephemeral streams have gone dry, and some regular streams are "down to a trickle," he said. "It's a bit scary."
New Windsor farmer Melvin Baile Jr., says he has never seen anything like it. Green beans that should reach halfway to his knee aren't even ankle-high. "The probability of a lot of this corn getting an ear on it is slim to none," he said.
The sediment ponds on John Calhoun's organic Ivy Neck Farm in Harwood, Anne Arundel County, have all but dried up.
"We would use this to water the cattle and irrigate that back field," he said. Now, the fish remaining in its puddles are easy prey for occasional herons.
