SAN ANTONIO – For many San Antonio-area farmers, crops are their sole source of income, and rain is always a welcome sight, but too much can be a problem. A farmer on the Southwest Side says this week has already brought too much rain, damaging some of his crops.
“We had 5.2 (inches) Monday, and we’ve had a few little showers in-between, but today, a while ago so, far we’ve had about 3 3/4 inches, and it’s still raining,” said Mark Verstufyt, owner of Mark Verstufyt Farms.
He says rain is very much needed, but depending on what you’re growing, this week’s rainfall could be costing you a lot of money.
Verstufyt said produce farmers are in the most trouble. He said produce probably took on too much water on Monday alone.
These rain conditions leave fruit full of water, leading them to decay, Verstufyt said. He said times are most likely tough for his friends nearby, who are growing squash and okra.
“The squash is going to rot. And the okra, it just doesn’t like the wet feet, so it just won’t do a whole lot until it starts drying out,” Verstufyt said.
Currently, he’s growing corn, which he says is doing fine with all the rain, but the forecast is still a concern. Rain chances are down and not expected to be as bad this weekend going into next week, but for his already highly saturated land, any more water will make it hard to navigate.
“The crop’s not pulling moisture anymore, and to get the soil to dry out so you can get the heavy machinery in there to harvest and get it out, it becomes an issue,” Verstufyt said.
But being the long-time farmer he is, he says he’s learned never to complain about the rain because when you do, that’s when you run into your next drought and an even more difficult situation.