Chronicles: WATER AND DROUGHT  

Cold weather, untried fields, pests all add to concerns at the end of the growing season 

By SARA HOTTMAN

H&N Staff Reporter

September 5, 2010

     Unseasonably cool weather coupled with limited and late water deliveries this spring displaced farmers and delayed planting crops, causing a slew of expenses and hurdles leading up to harvesting.

   “We’ve heard continuously about the fact growers didn’t know what kind of water supply they were going to have this year until late,” said Kyle Gorman, regional manager for the Oregon Water Resources Department. “Deciding on crops, setting up contracts, that’s all very difficult when they don’t know what kind of water supply they’re going to have.”

   Potato and onion growers are a few weeks out from harvesting. Until then, they are collectively hoping weather cooperates and their harvest yields enough to cover this year’s extra expenses — traveling to leased fields, and fertilizing and watering them.

   But alfalfa and grain cuttings were light, and overall farmers are expecting lower yields from problems with water, soil, or pests, which mean less revenue at the end of the season. 

       “Growers have added expenses this year, which impacts profitability,” said Willie Riggs, director of the Oregon State University extension office in Klamath Falls. “(Profit) says what we can do next year. It’s the financial road map for next year.”

   The full impact of this year’s drought will be evident in November, after crops are harvested and the extension office inventories yields.

   “(Growers) built their budgets last winter, and that’s what they’re shooting for, to break even,” Riggs said.  

   The hurdles

   There are 17 water districts covering 200,000 acres in the Klamath Reclamation Project. About one-third of farmers and ranchers received irrigation water in May — watering normally starts in April — and ultimately about 40 percent of growers did.

   Growers who didn’t receive surface water either had to use groundwater or enter land idling programs. Using groundwater not only stresses underground aquifers that supply domestic wells, but also incurs considerable electricity costs from pumping well water into irrigation systems.

   Some farmers entered a groundwater program in which the government reimburses electricity bills.

   Jim Carleton, of Carleton Farms in Merrill, would have spent about $4,000 a month on electricity without subsidies, though, he added, he still has maintenance costs associated with increased use.  

   Others entered a land idling program in which the government used drought relief funds to pay farmers a per-acre price to not irrigate the land. But some farmers, namely in western Langell Valley, received a comparatively miniscule amount of money to involuntarily idle their land.

   “People who received money for idling land didn’t get as much as they could have gotten from crops, and then there are all the ripple effects after that,” said Brian Charlton, a crop specialist with the Oregon State University extension office.

   Many farmers leased land to plant their crops. They had contracts to fulfill, but didn’t receive water to their own land.

   Land shopping and subsequent preparation and planting all happened late, Charlton said, because the Bureau of Reclamation announced who would get water so late in the season. 

   In several cases farmers had to plant in ground not prepared for their crop, which caused problems with equipment and pests.

   Weston Walker, field manager for Merrill-based Walker Brothers Farms, said the fields the potato operation relocated to — north of their usual fields, in Poe and Yonna valleys — were riddled with rocks, which damaged planting equipment. The business bought a new, $100,000 harvester that suctions out potatoes and drops rocks so the potatoes won’t be damaged.

   Maggots and wireworm, normally mitigated by an early spraying of insecticide, were a problem this year for farmers who leased land that wasn’t ideal for food crops or planted at the last minute, with no time for the usual field tests and preparations.

   “It’s a risky business,” Riggs said. “I appreciate people who have the passion for producing food and fiber, because they do take on a lot of risk to do what they love to do.”