Heat wave causing drought for Virginia Beach farmers

HAMPTON ROADS, Va. (WAVY) — While Hampton Roads got some much-needed rain Monday, it hasn’t been enough for farmers, including one who says it has been adversely affecting his crops.

Vaughn Farms Produce has been in business in the Pungo community of Virginia Beach since the 1800s, and current owner Robert Vaughn said the drought has been affecting his crops for months.

“We might have had two-tenths of an inch of rain,” Vaughn said. “If you accumulate that on top of the heat, then you’ve got serious problems.”

Running 300 acres of farmland has been an uphill battle for Vaughn and his wife, as their most popular produce — strawberries and soybeans — have been impacted. But he said growing corn and pumpkins has been the greatest challenge.

“It’s no more than four or five feet tall that … tassel, and that’s when it needs the majority of the water and it’s not getting it,” Vaughn said. “There are going to be crop failures down here this year and [it’s] something we haven’t seen in eight or 10 years. It’s been a dust bowl. I don’t dare plant the seed because it’s not going to come up.”

He said the best solution is using irrigations systems, “but against the heat, it’s still not enough hydration for the crops,” he said. “Farming is kind of a gamble. We always laughed at farmers who say it would be less painful just to go to Las Vegas and roll it on on dice or so. But here we go, months and months trying to figure out what Mother Nature is going to give us.”

Despite the heat wearing and tearing on the crops, Vaughn Produce Farms will remain open until late August and then reopen in September for pumpkin season.

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