Watch All Shows Victor Davis Hanson Tony Kinnett Daily Signal Signal Sitdown

Watch All Shows Victor Davis Hanson Tony Kinnett Daily Signal Signal Sitdown

Home – Political News – Virginia Farmers Struggle Amid Drought

Virginia Farmers Struggle Amid Drought

The state’s Drought Monitoring Task Force lifted its advisory for most of Southwest Virginia, including Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington, and Wise counties, as well as the cities of Bristol and Norton.

It’s the first time since April 16 that any portion of the Commonwealth has been listed as having a “normal” drought status. The rest of the state is still suffering drought conditions.

The situation is improving because August has seen sustained precipitation in much of Virginia, but it hasn’t been enough to replenish ground water levels after almost a year of below-average rainfall.

The task force met this week to discuss the status of drought monitoring. “Agricultural producers report improvement in crop conditions throughout the Commonwealth as a result of recent rain; however, reports indicate that the corn crop in the Northern Valley region of the state is stunted and the tobacco crop in Southside is one month delayed in maturity,” the Department of Environmental Quality reported. “Stream, river, and pond levels remain low throughout much of the state.”

Amid the ongoing drought, Virginians who attempted to search for disaster recovery resources on Thursday were out of luck: visitors to the website of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services were greeted with an error message.

“The........

© The Daily Signal