Weather puts planting on ice

Northwest wheat seeding expected to be up this year

Dave Wilkins
Capital Press

April 11, 2008

Northwest farmers needed lots of moisture, and Old Man Winter delivered.

Now growers are waiting for him to release his icy grip so they can get back in the fields.

Cold, wet weather has delayed spring wheat and barley planting across much of the region, particularly Northern and Eastern Idaho and Eastern Washington .

"We still have snow on the north side of some slopes," Washington Grain Alliance CEO Thomas Mick said in an interview April 8.

"The farmers just can't get in the fields. It's too wet," he said. "These are not normal conditions, so it's understandable that we're behind."

Spring wheat planting was 35 percent competed on April 6 in Washington state, compared with a five-year average of 49 percent for that date, according to estimates from USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Warmer weather was expected this weekend, which should give growers a chance to get back in the fields.

"Farmers will catch up very fast," Mick said. "These kind of delays happen, and we haven't seen any significant negative aspects."

After several consecutive mild winters, Northern Idaho finally got dumped on, with snowpacks well above normal, said Travis Jones, executive director of the Idaho Grain Producers Association.

"We got what we asked for," Jones said. " Northern Idaho just got pummeled."

Snowpack levels in Northern Idaho were the highest in the state as of April 1, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service snow survey.

The Idaho Panhandle had snowpack of 118 percent of average, and the Clearwater Basin was at 124 percent of average.

Just 2 percent of the spring wheat crop in Northern Idaho was planted at the end of last week, compared with 39 percent a year ago on April 6, the NASS reported.

Jones said he knew of some farmers in the Kendrick area who, as recently as two weeks ago, still couldn't get in their fields because of the snow.

The barley crop in Northern Idaho was just 1 percent planted compared with 35 percent a year ago.

Statewide, the spring wheat crop in Idaho was 19 percent planted compared with 40 percent a year ago. Barley planting was 17 percent completed compared with 42 percent last year.

Growers still have time to catch up, Jones said.

"There's still a relative amount of time for farmers to get in their fields," he said.

In Oregon , spring wheat and barley planting were both ahead of last year's pace and the five-year average.

Spring wheat seedings are expected to be up in all three Northwest states this year.

Washington growers are expected to plant 600,000 acres of spring wheat, an increase of 33 percent from last year.

In Idaho , farmers are expected to plant 540,000 acres, a 15 percent increase over 2007.

Oregon growers are projected to plant 180,000 acres of spring wheat, a 44 percent jump from last year.

Staff writer Dave Wilkins is based in Twin Falls , Idaho . E-mail: dwilkins@capitalpress.com.