Much of the state has been without rain for weeks, and that’s affecting agriculture.
Don Clifton is the Executive Director of the Delaware Farm Bureau.
“This time of the year, a lot of farmers are planting cover crops and they're also planting their small grains for harvest next year - crops like barley and wheat," said Don Clifton, Executive Director of the Delaware Farm Bureau.
Those cover crops, like cereal rye, are important for farmers. They preserve the soil and the nutrients within it.
“We will have rain again and and we'll have heavy rains," Clifton said. "And if we don't have something to hold the structure and the nutrients of the soil then we have some environmental damage that could potentially take place.”
Clifton says some farmers are using irrigation to water the soil to help those crops germinate and take hold, but irrigation isn’t an option available to every farmer.
While farmers keep a wary eye on their fields and the sky, consumers are not likely to see the effects of the drought on grocery store shelves.
"The crops that are in the pipeline for processing and consumption in whatever the final form is, whether it's Corn Flakes or bread or whatever - those crops have been harvested for some time, well before the onset of this drought," Clifton said.
Meanwhile, the state remains under a burn ban from the dry weather, and state officials are encouraging Delawareans to conserve water. There is no rain in the forecast through Tuesday.
