Temperatures in Georgia have continued to rise as the rain has held off for several weeks now. We haven’t had any appreciable rain since May 11, as of writing this article. We may have some rain early in the week the first full week of June, which is when this column will be published. I can’t predict at this time how much rain we’ll get, but I’ll talk about some strategies to use in drought situations, and give some websites that contain helpful information regarding rainfall.
The first website that I’d like to share with you is www.georgiaweather.net. This is a great website from the University of Georgia that has tons of information on it. UGA has weather stations all around the state that are continually collecting data that you can use. You can select the weather station that you’d like to look at. I’d recommend either using Blairsville, which is housed at the Experiment Station, or Tiger, which is housed in Rabun County, depending on your location. You can look at current conditions at these stations, which has information on air temperature, soil temperature, soil moisture, and wind speed among other things. If you go over to the drought tab, there are many maps with information about cumulative rainfall for the year, and how that compares to historical data. Under the Calculator tab, you can click on rainfall and look at data there, by making a custom range of dates.
Another website that I’d like to share is the United States Drought Monitor, www.droughtmonitor.unl.edu. At the time of writing this article according to the US Drought Monitor we don’t have drought conditions. Obviously, that could change if we don’t receive rain soon. Much of southern and central Georgia have abnormally dry to moderate drought conditions currently. I would expect those conditions to continue northward if the rain holds off.
Both of those websites have very useful information and I use them frequently. Now let’s talk about some things that you can do when we have dry conditions. These strategies won’t solve all your problems, but instead lessen the impact of dry weather.
Applying mulch wherever possible will help conserve soil moisture. The mulch is a barrier that protects the soil from sunlight, which keeps evaporation lower. Mulch will also help build the organic matter in the soil. Organic matter will help build the soil’s water holding capacity. Our soils have a high water holding capacity, but increasing the organic matter will also make your soil healthier. Biochar is a product that can also increase the water holding capacity of soil. There is not a lot of scientific research out on biochar, but a lot of anecdotal evidence says that it is beneficial for soil and can improve the water holding capacity of soil.
If you have a pond, you’ll want to pay special attention to the fish during dry times. Ponds will dry up, exposing more shoreline and reducing the pond volume. Less volume means that you can’t hold as many fish, so some extra harvesting may be necessary. Weed growth in ponds will also increase, because the water level is lower so sunlight is able to penetrate to the bottom of the pond in more spots. Higher temperatures also means less oxygen in the water for fish to breathe. An aerator may be necessary to get oxygen back into the pond to prevent a fish kill.
If you have questions about the impact that dry conditions may have, contact your local Extension Office or send me an email at Jacob.Williams@uga.edu.