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Rain Too Late for Some Farmers

MUNCY — It’s no secret we had a relatively dry summer in northeastern and central Pennsylvania. The conditions were not ideal for all farmers. Parts...
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MUNCY -- It's no secret we had a relatively dry summer in northeastern and central Pennsylvania. The conditions were not ideal for all farmers.

Parts of the area, including Lycoming County, were under a drought watch.

Tom Styer, who owns Tom Styer Farm and Market, was getting used to the dry weather, and even after some recent rain he says the damage was already done.

"The rain is too late for the corn this year anymore. It won't make it grow anymore. Actually, it will suck up a little water and take a little longer to dry maybe," Styer said.

It poured in Muncy over the weekend. Styer's farm had about 4.5 inches.

"We needed it and the ground was dry and it sucked it right up. This time around we were glad for it," Styer said.

Styer says the recent rain did not help his tomatoes, potatoes, corn, or soybeans. But it did help the grain, which he uses to cover crops in the winter.

"We put grain out so we get something growing on the ground because in the winter time we don't like to see bare ground," Styer said.

When it comes to drought conditions, geography plays a big part in that. Snyder's Sweet Corn is just about 10 miles away from Tom Styer's, and this place wasn't really affected by the drought.

"In July and August we had three 2-inch events of rain and that really made the crop," Scott Snyder said.

Scott Snyder owns Snyder's Sweet Corn near Montoursville. He tells Newswatch 16 this year's corn and soybean crops are some of the best he's ever had. But he agrees with Styer that the ground has been dry lately, so Sunday's rain helped.

"We had 1.4 inches, which it all soaked into the ground because the ground was really dry," Snyder said.

Snyder says the rain actually helped him finish out his sweet corn.

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