This is the time of year to start planting crops in south Georgia. “Back in the day,” master farmers would go into their fields and scoop up a handful of freshly turned crop land to test its readiness for planting. They were looking for signs of a good season in the soil (dirt, land), mostly meaning warmth and moisture. My father would also smell it -- perhaps for some subtle indicator of soil condition -- but maybe because he was so at one with the land.
Moisture was key to farming success. If the soil was too dry in the touch test, it was risky, perhaps hopeless, to plant corn or anything else. “It would be like putting seed in an ash bed,” they might say. The choice was to delay planting in hope of a healing rain or to plant and hope that rain came in time to allow seed to germinate.
Another test for adequate moisture to sustain a growing season was the water level in nearby streams. Recently, my granddaughter, Heidi Howard, reported that the Ohoopee River was in full flood and I replied that this is a good sign for farming. Since the two sides of my extended family lived on either side of the Ohoopee, we looked to it for many things, including indication of farming prospects. If the typical rainy season during winter months flooded streams, it raised the water table that supported soil moisture during the growing season. If these rains failed, there was a real possibility that the soil would dry out later even if moisture at the time of planting was adequate. “How did the Ohoopee look when you crossed it yesterday?” was a serious question.
Drought is not the only weather condition that threatens farmers. Too much rain at once or over an extended period is equally destructive. Heavy rainfall can lead to floods, to fields being washed away or gashed with gullies, taking away irreplaceable topsoil. Flat or low-lying fields do not drain well and crops are subject to “drowning” when roots sit in water until they rot and the plant collapses. Excess moisture at planting inhibits germination and can cause seed to rot or sour.
Temperature is another issue in checking on the season in the soil. Seeds do not sprout well in cold dirt. It needs to be warm, not cold or hot. There will be heat -- maybe too much heat -- before the crop is finished, and heat without redeeming showers can be devastating to crops and farmers. Cold soil leads to a decision to plant now and hope for a “warm spell” to come soon or wait until the land is warm before planting.
Whether to plant or wait is a decision made under the pressure of time. There is a limited period of time for “getting crops in the ground” and for growing them to harvest at a favorable marketing season. Old time farmers had to call on all the learning they had gained from their elders and personal experience to make “get by or fail” judgments about how to live on the land.
It is sometimes said that farmers follow their “calling” in partnership with nature. That might be true about the land itself. Would that all of them would treat it that way. However, nobody partners with weather. Mindless, it has no generosity or pity. The heart of a hurricane can destroy and kill, but its outer fringes might drop drenching rain to end a drought. Farmers try to predict, respond and adapt in their lifelong dance with weather and hope to be right more often than broken-hearted.
Modern advances in technology and marketing systems have reduced many of the uncertainties of farming. Mechanized equipment shrinks toil and time required for almost all tasks. Improved varieties of crops yield more bounteous harvests. There is a huge array of chemicals to control weeds/grasses and destructive insects. Planting time is not as circumscribed as it once was. Irrigation helps deal with drought.
All of these helpful things have limits, including costs. Sooner or later, irrigation is going to run against a wall. It depends upon water from underground aquifers, in south Georgia the Floridan Aquifer. It provides water for rural homes, towns and cities -- Savannah, Brunswick, Jacksonville -- the barrier islands and countless farms.
This aquifer has two problems – not enough water going in and too much water coming out. It is replenished by rainfall soaking into the earth in the hill country, greater Atlanta and points north and south. Every parking lot or highway paved, every building constructed, reduces the amount of open space available for replenishment and diverts water into streams, which take it away before much can soak deep underground.
The above cited users have already lowered the aquifer significantly. The huge “bottomless” Blue Springs in Screven County suddenly disappeared, leaving only a deep, sandy hole. All four of the ever-flowing springs on and around my homeplace in Toombs County are dry. Artesian wells -- once numerous -- have gone dry. Rural homeowners found it necessary to lower the pumps and induction pipes in their deep wells.
Farmers using irrigation for their crops have been constrained mainly by costs vs. benefits calculations. Thus, it is not used extensively for cotton, corn and soy beans. But it is for tobacco which, perhaps fortunately, is not as widely grown now. Sweet onions suck up a lot of water, first to give transplants a quick start and then to fill the onions with juice before harvest. These are sweet because they are mostly water.
In the not too distant future, the use of aquifer water for farm irrigation will be rationed and monitored. All categories of users likely will be constrained as the water in the Floridan shrinks. Incidentally, in spite of the rosy statement by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD), I am concerned about the impact of the big wells drilled in lower Bulloch to serve the Hyundai plant and nearby developments. (Something about that “just in case” contingency fund?)
What no one is talking about is salt water intrusion along the coast. As pressure in the aquifer falls due to water withdrawal, salt water from the Atlantic will push into the space. In time, wells drilled on the Golden Isles will yield salt water. What will the super wealthy on Sea Island or those who live on tourist dollars on other islands do? Then come the cities like Savannah. There will be emergency solutions, much worse than if the issue had been addressed 50 years ago when it was first raised.
Roger G. Branch Sr. is professor emeritus of sociology at Georgia Southern University and is a retired pastor.