Drought has hit our Mississippi tea farm.
The hot and dry weather has been relentless. We have had 11 days above 100F and not had measurable rain since July 1st. We have had 63 days above 90F this summer. In other words, it has been hot and dry and now to the point of brutal and dangerous.
Tea grows between 50F and 100F. It is also a poor conductor of water through the bush. We are currently running the irrigation over 7.5 acres of land on a daily basis. We pumped 655,200 gallons of water onto the crop last week. We are also watering at night to help evaporation stay to a minimum but with night time temps in the 80s (F), that is hard to do as well.
We are currently using 58,800 gallons of water a week in the nursery.
We haven't used the irrigation in the field in 3 years because it has been wet and warm not hot and dry. The irrigation system around here is like insurance. You don't need it until you need it.
You can see the field is bone dry except right around the plants which is green. Also of note, we are using this much water just to keep the plants alive-- they aren't producing.
This year has been a struggle for tea yield. We probably won't have much tea later in the year or at Christmas because this trend is set to last 6 more weeks. The season will be wrapping down at that point.
This is the reality of farming sometimes. It not always perfect and pretty.
Drought has plagued us all here down south. So sorry for your loss of 2023 crop potential. If my schedule hold I hope to be passing through & staying over 9/21st…..I found you through Harvest Host Options! Great reviews, (thank you for your congenial hospitality)….looking forward to meeting all of you & sharing a cup of tea….see you soon. Ivan Trahan – Louisiana to Memphis travels…. (will book through Harvest Host once my travel dates confirmed)….
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