Drought warning hurts farmers and prices

QUEEN ANNE'S COUNTY, Md. (WMAR) - Thanks to a mild winter and a hot, dry summer, a large part of Maryland is now under a drought warning.

Eastern Shore farmer, Dale Story kind of sums it up for a lot of farmers in Maryland. "It's been pretty rough out here," he said.

All counties on the Eastern Shore, expect Cecil are on a drought warning. Much of central Maryland counties are on a drought watch. That effects Frederick, Carroll, Baltimore Harford, Howard and Montgomery Counties.

It hasn't been a great year for farmers.

Dale doesn't need to travel to one of Maryland's casinos for excitement. "I don't have to go to the slot machines, I gamble every day I get out of bed," he says.

When you see high corn in a drought, it can be deceiving.

With irrigation comes the cost to push all that water to the crops, mainly diesel fuel. Irrigation isn't cheap to start, and you have to fertilize on the front end and just hope it comes out for the best on the back end.

When corn and grain prices go up to counteract the cost of irrigation and such, it can effect a lot of other things.

Farmer Mike Whiteside says that there is "a ripple effect. Prices are really high right now and that effects the chicken industry and the beef and the hogs and that all ripples back to the consumer with meat prices."