Southern Lexington County is suffering extreme drought conditions.

Farmers in Edmund, Fairview, Gaston, Pelion, Swansea and Horse Neck are feeling it the most.

The US Drought Monitor moved those areas and parts of 5 other counties into the extreme drought category.

This confirmed what local farmers already knew: Dry conditions are worse.

How will this affect the price of local produce?

“Consumers probably won’t feel much of the effects of the drought,” Clemson Extension horticulture agent Justin Ballew said.

“Any time an event causes a farmer’s production costs to go up, the farmer has to eat that cost. It would take a prolonged drought covering a significant portion of the country to cause a shortage big enough to affect consumer prices.

“The vast majority of produce in the midlands is irrigated. Our soil is so sandy that the drought probably hasn’t caused us to alter our irrigation schedules.

“One good thing about dry weather is disease incidence is usually lower and growers can leave more time in between fungicide applications – for example, 14 days vs. 7 days.

“Heat has probably been the worst thing for us over the last couple months.”

The state Agriculture Department reported some insect infestation, lower crop yields and dry pastures.

Until harvest season is over, no comparative data will be available on how the drought has affected yields and livestock this year.

The Department of Agriculture encourages farmers to report drought conditions at www.agriculture.sc.gov .