Friday, May. 08, 2009

Mid-Columbia wheat farmers weathering the winter

Ingrid Stegemoeller, Herald staff writer

Recent rain has washed some worry away for Mid-Columbia wheat growers, but others still are dealing with damaged crop because of drought and a long, cold winter.

"The wheat crop suffered due to last year's prolonged drought," said Chris Herron, a Connell wheat grower who said about half of his crop "looked good."

Some of the main areas of concern include north Franklin County, Adams County and the Palouse region, said Tom Mick, chief executive officer of the Washington Grain Alliance.

"There are a lot of bare areas that we're concerned about," he said.

Dry soil last year made seeding difficult, Herron said.

"If you can't reach moisture, there's no point," he said.

Winter wheat kill also was reported in Whitman, Lincoln and Adams counties, according to the Washington Field Office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Dave Paul, regional director for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Risk Management Agency in Spokane, said it's likely that insurance coverage payments for wheat will go up this year.

Last year, most of the 77 percent of wheat acres in Washington that were insured were covered by Crop Revenue Coverage, a program of the USDA, he said.

The program provides coverage for wheat growers' loss of revenue because of low prices, low yields or a combination, according to the agency.

Nearly $850 million in insurance money for wheat was paid out last year in Washington, Oregon and Idaho, Paul said, adding he thinks that number will be more than $1 billion this year, mostly under the CRC program.

The biggest benefit of the crop revenue program this year is the base price was set last September, at $8.98 a bushel, Paul said.

"Producers have really good revenue type of coverage under CRC going into this year," he said.

Some wheat growers may have to reseed to keep their coverage, Paul said.

"Whenever a planted crop has been damaged to the extent that growers in the area would not normally further care for crop, then it must be replanted if it's practical to replant," a determination made by the grower and his insurance agency, he said.

The crop looks more golden closer to Pasco, said wheat grower Walt Neff.

He was pleased with the look of his crop of red and white winter wheat, which is pushing to a foot tall.

"The wheat looks beautiful," Neff said.

A recent soil sample four feet deep showed moist soil all the way down, he said. "That's pretty promising."

And the rains of the past several days have him smiling.

"This is really good weather," Neff said. "The only problem we could have now is if we start getting disease."

Disease might be a problem in some areas of the Horse Heaven Hills, said wheat grower Mike Hamilton. Striped rust is a concern, which destroys the leaves of the plants.

He's applied fungicide to treat the problem, which he said is expensive to do, but worth it because the crop looks good.

Cold weather and drought last year didn't cause much damage to the area's wheat, Hamilton said.

"The rain is a mixed blessing for us because of the rust," Hamilton said. The crop needs the moisture, but rain combined with cool days and nights seems to promote the rust growth, he said.

Prices remain a concern for producers.

"Our market is nothing to write home about," Neff said.

At Tri-Cities Grain on Thursday, manager Damon Filan said that prices have been holding steady, though they're down about $10 a bushel when compared to last year.

The Pasco white wheat price was about $5.25 a bushel and hard red winter wheat was at $6.10 per bushel, he said.

Delays on wheat and corn plantings in the Midwest likely were keeping the prices steady, he said.