{"id":582437,"date":"2026-04-13T22:19:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T22:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/582437\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T22:19:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T22:19:10","slug":"central-nc-farmer-preparing-for-worst-drought-in-decades-wral-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/582437\/","title":{"rendered":"Central NC farmer preparing for worst drought in decades :: WRAL.com"},"content":{"rendered":"

Central North Carlina is forecasted to have temperatures in
\nthe 90s this week<\/a>, which won\u2019t do anything to help the statewide drought.<\/p>\n

Raleigh is experiencing its driest year on record so far<\/a>.
\nData shows 77% of the state is in a severe drought and 17% is in an extreme
\ndrought.<\/p>\n

Jackie Thompson Sr. started helping his dad in 1957 on a
\nfarm near the line between the towns of Rolesville and Wake Forest. He still
\ngrows tobacco, wheat and soybeans. He said this year\u2019s powdery soil isn\u2019t going
\nto help.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re toying with a situation we haven\u2019t seen since about
\n1977,\u201d Thompson said.<\/p>\n

Thompson said the 90-degree temperatures will pull whatever
\nmoisture is left from the field, where he\u2019ll plant tobacco. His pond is so low,
\nhe’ll only have enough water to save his wheat or irrigate a different
\nfield.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s a really concerning time right now,\u201d Thompson said. \u201c[If]
\na farmer doesn’t pray, he doesn\u2019t need to be farming.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Related:\u00a0Drought conditions worsening in NC as 2026 breaks record for driest year at RDU so far<\/a><\/p>\n

According to the National Integrated Drought Information
\nSystem, North Carolina did not get more than 1 inch compared to the roughly 3 inches of
\nprecipitation it normally does in February. Also, North Carolina did not get the nearly 3 inches it
\nusually does in January.<\/p>\n

A drought not only reduces the quantity of water. It can
\nalso lower the quality of the water, according to Thompson.<\/p>\n

Thompson said a drought can alter carbon and nutrient levels
\nin the soil and create an insect outbreak. He said he tries to control what he
\ncan by starting his tobacco in a 300-foot greenhouse.<\/p>\n

Thompson said he relies on a bud that will grow to between
\n39 to 42 inches tall.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the moneymaker in North Carolina,\u201d Thompson said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Central North Carlina is forecasted to have temperatures in the 90s this week, which won\u2019t do anything to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":582438,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[4253,15229,192,79,2986],"class_list":{"0":"post-582437","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-climate-change","9":"tag-drought","10":"tag-environment","11":"tag-science","12":"tag-weather"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=582437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582437\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/582438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=582437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=582437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=582437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}