NEW ORLEANS-(AP)--Louisiana got some welcome rain this week, but farmers were still worrying about vulnerable crops in drought conditions that even threatened to cancel their Fourth of July fireworks displays.
"So far, we're 4 1/2 inches (of rain) behind for the year, and for the month, we're almost every bit of that - 3 1/2 inches," said Gary Chatelain, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service. "We were doing pretty good through May. June's been a real disappointment."
Price Bundy of Ida, La., who grows cotton and corn, said corn ears are just starting to fill out and may be stunted without more rain.
"For us, since it was a fairly decent rain, we were able to turn off some of our irrigation equipment" for a day or two, Bundy said.
"The bad thing is it was not area-wide. It was pretty well isolated," he said.
This time of year is also crucial for soybeans, hay and pastures, said Bundy's father, John Bundy Sr. of Bundy Farms near Benton, La.
Meteorologist Tim Destri, with the NWS in Slidell, said the New Orleans area was more than 10 1/2 inches below normal - or about two-thirds the usual amount for the first half of the year.
