By Amit R. Paley
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 28, 2006

FINCHVILLE, Md., June 27 -- Alton Hoffman III always knew that his 30,000 broiler chickens would eventually be killed. But he never imagined that their fate would be death by drowning.

The four-week-old birds suffocated Sunday morning when a foot of torrential rain hammered this Eastern Shore village, seeped into Hoffman's low-slung chicken house and rose far above the heads of the confused birds. Now the birds' bodies are piled in shoulder-high stacks, giving off the almost-unbearable stench of rotting chicken flesh and soggy manure.

Fierce rains during the past three days have killed as many as 80,000 chickens and caused as much as $8 million in damage here in Dorchester County alone, leaving many farmers in this rural region terrified of the damage that further precipitation could inflict.

"Agriculture ain't the best business to be in anyway, but this thing is just killing us," said Hoffman, 50, whose insurance does not cover the estimated $20,000 in damage. "What am I going to do?"

Across the Eastern Shore, agricultural operations from pickling cucumber farms to poultry businesses have suffered millions of dollars in damage. The Maryland Emergency Management Agency is compiling estimates of the destruction to determine whether the state qualifies for federal disaster assistance.

The devastation was particularly severe in Dorchester, a rural county whose $84 million agriculture industry is its No. 1 source of business. So far, the rain has caused $7 million to $8 million in damage to about 200 farms, according to Betsy Gallagher, an agent with the county's Cooperative Extension.

"Nobody's ever seen nothing like this," said Dennis Reid, 62, a farmer from Rhodesdale. "I've seen three hurricanes with more rain than this, but nothing where the rain came down so fast in two hours. Nothing could hold up under this."

The rain submerged most of his 325 acres of watermelons. Reid said at least 100 acres were destroyed, causing about $100,000 in damage.

"It just drowned 'em out. They're dying," said Reid, who, like other farmers interviewed for this story, does not have flood insurance. "This is going to be a big impact on my year's income -- if I even have one."

John Burtman, executive director of the Dorchester Farm Service Agency, said the county's worst-hit crops were watermelon and pickling cucumbers, which each suffered about $1 million in damage.

Some of the most surreal images were of elephant-eye-high stalks of corn almost completely submerged, which made the green and yellow plants resemble lily pads on a lake, and little soybean plants so far underwater that they were invisible. But Gallagher said that those crops can tolerate a lot of water and that as long as the water recedes in the next two days, the harvest might not be compromised.

Crabbers and fishermen are uncertain what impact the massive rains could have on their catch. Although watermen on the Eastern Shore haven't reported any noticeable effects, the tremendous amount of fresh water flowing into the Chesapeake Bay is expected to alter crab migration patterns.

"You can't have that much rain without having an effect," said Larry Simns, president of the Maryland Watermen's Association. "We just don't know what effect it will have yet."

For farmers who have watched the literal fruits of their labor destroyed by the water, the continuing onslaught of storms only amplifies the pain. "Right now, we're heartbroken," Reid said. "Our hands are tied. We can't do much of anything."

As the rain continued to fall Tuesday afternoon, Hoffman tried to clean up his 500-foot-long chicken house, a once squawk-filled bird lodging transformed into an avian mortuary. He tried not to look at the towering clouds gathered overhead.

"Farmers live hope," he said. "We just hope that the weather turns around. What else can you do?"