For the past few weeks rain has been a rumor in the Twin Cities. The lack of precipitation is impacting many, including farmers who are dealing with yet another dry spell. “The sky’s not gonna cry today,” said Butch Cardinal, who runs All Good Organics Farm in Lino Lakes. In the eyes of some, this drought compares to another rainless period in time over three decades ago. “Yeah I do remember ’88,” Cardinal said. “That was a little bit later in the summer. This is starting early. We’re dry now in May and June with not a lot of rain in the future. It’s going to be a long summer. It could be dryer than the ’87-88 drought here. Oh yes. This could be the worst lack of rain or moisture that I can remember. Especially starting this early in the season.” Cardinal has farming in his DNA and puts in long hours at All Good Organics. “The organic side we’ve been doing for 12 years,” Cardinal said. “The farming, my sons are the sixth generation on the farm – 157 years.” Water woes For Cardinal, the lack of h2o is taking a toll on his farm. “We’ve pretty much stopped planting because of lack of moisture,” Cardinal said. “It’s not going to germinate.” That means Cardinal and his crew have to rely on other ways to get water to the crops. “We are irrigating,” Cardinal said. “We do some drip lines on some of the crops that we have and we do some overhead watering with a water truck.” Because of the arid conditions, Cardinal is going to plant crops on just 20 of his 68 acres. Said Cardinal: “No rain’s always bad.” Despite the lack of raindrops coming down from the sky, All Good Organics is still growing fruits and vegetables. “Business is good,” Cardinal said. “We’ve got a lot of support from the local community and all that there, but nobody can bring us rain.” “Yields will be down” With no rain, irrigation is the key to keeping business afloat on Cardinal’s farm. “With the lack of rain I probably spend an extra six hours a day working with water,” Cardinal said…”We’re going to get something. Yields will be down a lot and labor’s gonna be high.” Marge Schmidt spends a couple hours each day watering crops for All Good Organics. “Twice a day,” Schmidt said. “Morning and late afternoon/early evening.” She tries not to focus on the drought. “Whatever happens, happens right?” Schmidt said. “Make the best of it.” Schmidt can’t control the weather, but knows that it hasn’t been this dry in the North Metro since the 1980’s. “Nope.” Schmidt said. “Not this bad.” But the good news is there will be a crop, and fruits and veggies are available at the farm store. “Selling lots of food and getting lots in from the fields,” Schmidt said. “It’s still growing.” “We grow about 20 some different types of vegetables from asparagus to zucchini,” Cardinal said. “We grow a lot of fruits. We do melons, strawberries, pears. We’ve got fruit trees.” All Good Organics is open from 8 am to 8 pm seven days a week. Besides fruit and veggies they also sell homemade pickles, jams, salsas and maple syrup.
NORTH METRO CROPS NEED RAIN DROPS
LINO LAKES, Minn. (6/23/2023) – The sun-baked summer of 2023 is now an epic drought in the North Metro.
