Giamarese Farm is Weathering the Hot Summer

Many farmers in the U.S. are facing the worst drought of their lives.

But farmer Jim Giamarese of says that locally, there is less to worry about and that the price of food at his farm stand isn’t expected to increase.

“It hurts mainly the field farms cause the showers are just pop up showers,” he said.

According to the New York Times, the worst drought in 50 years could drive up the price of groceries next year, including milk, beef, chicken, pork, a well as cereals and bread. Why? Because the drought is affecting 88 percent of the corn crop, the chief ingredient in processed foods and animal feed.

“Grain prices affect meat prices when it comes to chicken, beef, even the production of eggs, anything that has to eat corn,” said Giamarese.

But as a fruit and vegetable farmer, Giamarese said a lack of water can sometimes help a product’s flavor. It also allows farmers with irrigation systems like he has to control the amount of water their crops receive. Humidity and cloud cover also can help because even if temperatures reach the 90s, things won’t dry out as quickly.

“The plants don’t love it, but some of the heat and humidity adds flavor to peaches, corn, tomatoes…when it’s on the dryer side, we can adjust the amount of water we give them. When it’s wet, you can’t take the water off.

For some though, the hot summer could be a boon, especially if fresh produce is your thing. Giamarese said that everything is coming in about two weeks earlier than usual.

“It’s scary because still hot. People don’t want apples when its hot, they want peaches when they’re hot,” he said.

Giamarese said that on a scale of 1 to 10, this year’s heat comes in at about an 8 for him. But even though his farm and others like might “weather” the summer heat, heat waves like the ones this year do bring their share of troubles.

“For every one year of heat it ages me about five years I think,” he joked.

Follow Patch on Facebook. Visit www.facebook.com/EastBrunswickPatch and like us. You can also find us on Twitter at twitter.com/EBrunswickPatch.