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Levi's water cave

NewsHour discussion on the drought

PBS special on the drought in the 1930's

Weathering the Drought
(8/30/99)
by Mary Sale, age 15, Greenbrier, West Virginia

Brown grass, dead leaves, dry river beds. In Connecticut, some lakes are dangerous to swim in because of high levels of bacteria caused by the lack of rain.

In Pennsylvania, sports teams have delayed practice because the playing fields are dry and rocky.

But few teens are affected by this year's drought as much as seventeen-year-old Levi Burns.

Whether he's raking hay or cooling the cattle, Levi is helping his family farm in Greenbrier County, West Virginia survive the drought.

Levi also tracks the effect of the weather through his hobby, caving. The Burns have a natural drought "detector," a water cave.

The cave rests besides a stream and is filled with water eleven months of the year. In normal years, the cave opens in August. Water flows in and the cave seals itself shut, only to open for another meal 50 weeks later.

This year, however, the cave is starving and has opened twice, first in June, and again in August. It has stayed open for as long as a month and a half.

"The water is lower than I've seen it in my entire life," says Levi.

Thirsty cattle

The cave is not the only thing starving on the Burns farm. The cattle are also having a hard time finding enough to eat.

In early spring, the Burns received 270 five hundred-pound cattle to feed, care for, and eventually sell. Last year they raised 480 cattle, so they're already looking at a 50% cut in profits this year.

After six months, the cattle usually gain three hundred-pounds. They are then sold by the pound. With this year's lack of green grass and water, though, the cattle are staying skinny.

Levi says, "We are not going to put as much weight on the cows this year as we normally could. Without water, the cows will not eat."

The Burns farm is on a rotational system set up by a local conservation group, which entitles them to move the cattle to different pastures once every two or three weeks. But this year, because of the lack of water, Levi has had to rotate the cattle every four or five days.

He's in good spirits though, "luckily, none of our wells have dried up; therefore, we should do ok."

Other local farms are not as optimistic. Some have begun to sell their cattle underweight. By doing this, the farmers are not earning as much money as expected from their hard work, but they don't really have a choice. Levi expects a few of the local farms to fail.

The government offers help

The withered crops and stressed cattle have forced the government to take action. Last week, Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman declared all of West Virginia and 33 counties surrounding the state as farm emergency areas. The declaration will allow farmers to apply for low-interest loans.

Other states in the East are also getting help. New Jersey is experiencing its worst drought on record since it started collecting data 105 years ago. Parts of Maryland, New York and Connecticut have also been declared agricultural disaster areas.

Rain appreciation

Whether in fast-moving New York City or in simple Greenbrier County, West Virginia, the drought affects us all.

So the next time a rainy day forces you from the pool, or the playing field, don't you dare frown. The rain could possibly be saving someone's farm.