A DRY SUMMER — This graphic courtesy of the National Drought Mitigation Center shows that much of West Virginia has experienced moderate to severe drought this summer, with the state’s Eastern Panhandle experiencing extreme drought conditions. — Graphic Courtesy/National Drought Mitigation Center

CHARLESTON — The West Virginia State Fair kicks off today, with Agriculture Commissioner Kent Leonhardt preparing to welcome the public and vendors, but also working with state and federal officials to support farmers struggling with the worst drought in decades.

Leonhardt, who is running for his third four-year term as agriculture commissioner, asked Gov. Jim Justice to declare a state of emergency for all 55 counties due to drought conditions in the state, and Justice granted the request in a July 26 proclamation.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, published by the U.S. National Drought Mitigation Center, the entire state is affected by drought, with much of central West Virginia in category D2 severe drought as of August 1, while the entire Eastern Panhandle and parts of the Potomac Highlands are in category D3 extreme drought.

Speaking by phone on the way to the fairgrounds in Fairlea, Leonhardt said the last year the state experienced a drought this bad was 1999, and some counties are experiencing their worst drought in a century.

“When I asked the governor’s office about a week ago to declare a state of emergency, they said the drought in Jefferson County was the second worst in 130 years,” Leonhardt said.

Leonhardt said all farmers in West Virginia are feeling the effects of the drought due to the lack of rainfall this summer, but livestock farmers are the hardest hit because of the increased demand for hay and feed for their animals.

“What’s happened is people have planted hay crops and the pastures have stopped growing since the rain stopped falling in early June, especially in the Eastern Panhandle,” Leonhardt said. “When the grass stops growing, you can’t move as many animals — not just cows, but sheep, goats and all of our livestock are affected.

“Normally, you give them fresh grass during the summer, but the grass stops growing,” Leonhardt continued. “You can’t keep up that expected feed. So your carrying capacity on your farm goes down. Then you have to sell some animals, so a lot of farmers are selling some animals right now. But a lot of them are feeding them what they just harvested, hoping for rain and the grass to grow back.”

Leonhardt said he worked closely with former state treasurer John Perdue, who now works as state administrator of the West Virginia Farm Service Agency through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Leonhardt said the Farm Service Agency will offer programs specific to areas of the state that are seeing the worst drought conditions.

“There will be a feeding program in the D3 areas and there will be a grazing program in the rest of the state to help improve pastures and things like that right now,” Leonhardt said.

The federal government will pay 60% of the feeding and grazing programs, according to Leonhardt. He is in talks with the Governor’s Office about having the state cover all or part of the additional 40% of the cost of those programs.

Leonhardt, chair of the State Conservation Committee, the governing body of the West Virginia Conservation Agency, said the state’s 14 conservation districts have been provided emergency funds for irrigation programs. Those programs include providing farmers with funds to purchase water tanks and allowing cost sharing for emergency connections to municipal water supplies.

“If there’s a city water line nearby, we allow them to share the cost of hooking up to city water so that when their farm is dry due to drought and their source dries up, they can use city water to water their animals,” Leonhardt said. “Obviously, city water is more expensive than a running source on your farm. But you have to make sure your animals have access to water.”

Another issue under discussion is state reimbursements to fire departments that help farmers by hauling water. The state conservation agency also grants farmers access to water holding areas for flood control dams to provide water for livestock.

“Normally we don’t allow this because it’s just a safety issue, but because it’s an emergency we’re allowing them to do it,” Leonhardt said. “We need to water our animals.”

As for the State Fair, Leonhardt said more than 30 vendors are participating in the Country Store, which showcases agricultural businesses. He said the drought has not caused a major decrease in State Fair attendance this year, with farmers remaining positive despite the lack of rain.

“There’s a lot of great things happening at the State Fair for agriculture in West Virginia,” Leonhardt said. “Before the drought, we were on the upswing. Livestock numbers were up, meat production was up, farmers markets were up. So, we were on a good trend. We’ll be a little bit out of the drought, but we’ll come back even stronger. I’ve talked to a lot of farmers. They’re positive about it.”

The West Virginia State Fair continues through Aug. 17. More information is available at statefairofwv.com. Those seeking drought assistance can visit agriculture.wv.gov.