Friday, September 3, 2021
CapitalPress.com 7
Fall wheat planting may be delayed as farmers wait for break in drought
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
Pacifi c Northwest wheat
farmers will likely plant their
crop later than normal this
year in hopes of fall rain that
will replenish moisture in the
soil, industry leaders say.
USDA National Agri-
cultural Statistics Service
reports Washington sub-
soil moisture was 60% very
short, 32% short and 8% ade-
quate for the week ending
Aug. 22.
Idaho subsoil moisture
was 40% very short, 39%
short and 21% adequate.
Oregon subsoil moisture
was 75% very short, 16%
short and 9% adequate.
“Topsoil moisture is
worse,” said Glen Squires,
CEO of the Washington
Grain Commission.
USDA reports topsoil
moisture is 72% very short,
23% short and 5% adequate
in Washington.
Idaho topsoil moisture is
41% very short, 36% short
and 23% adequate.
Oregon topsoil moisture
is 76% very short, 12% short
and 12% adequate.
“Some producers have,
or are, waiting to seed, hop-
ing for moisture,” Squires
said. “At the same time oth-
ers are beginning and plant-
ing now.”
The USDA indicates win-
ter wheat seeding is at 7%
Capital Press File
compared to a fi ve-year aver-
age of 2% at this time of year, A farmer near Soda Springs, Idaho, plants fall wheat.
Many farmers are reportedly delaying planting in
Squires said.
“But one must consider hopes of getting some rain.
that harvest completed much
earlier this year,” Squires of the state is currently clas- zation has received reports of
said.
sifi ed as extreme or excep- seed producers getting 30%
Squires hopes recent pre- tional drought.
to 50% of normal yields, with
dictions of a La Nina bring-
“Idaho needs substantial some reports of “shriveled”
ing more rain and snow this rain to prepare for planting and “small-seeded” crops.
winter are accurate.
and provide a good start to
Data on the 2021 seed
“Idaho remains in historic next year’s crop,” Chumrau crop is limited at this time,
drought,” said Casey Chum- said. “High wheat prices and but early seed samples are
rau, executive director of the lower prices for some spe- still showing strong germina-
Idaho Wheat Commission.
cialty crops might result in tion, Port said.
Currently, 88% of Idaho’s additional wheat acres but it
“Because of limited or no
land area, including nearly all is still too soon to know.”
soil moisture, the seed deal-
44 counties, are experiencing
Lauren Port, of the Wash- ers that I have spoken with
severe or higher drought con- ington Crop Improvement anticipate that fall seeding
ditions. Fifty-eight percent Association, said her organi- will take place later than nor-
mal,” she said. “Folks that
would usually be planting
late August may be looking
at late September, or later.”
To the south, timing of
planting will lean toward
mid-November as producers
wait for precipitation, Ore-
gon Wheat CEO Amanda
Hoey said.
“For some, I expect it to
bump up nearer to deadlines
associated with crop insur-
ance dates,” she said.
Hoey expects the num-
ber of planted wheat acres to
increase. She points to higher
wheat prices and water
issues driving the switch in
regions such as in the Trea-
sure Valley.
“For areas where stored
water is reduced due to
drought, producers may be
looking at less water-inten-
sive crop options for the
upcoming year,” Hoey said.
Anticipating more wheat
plantings, the Oregon wheat
industry has been advising
growers moving into wheat
directly following corn to
break down corn residue to
minimize opportunities for
fusarium head blight to gain
hold in the wheat crop.
“Particularly with the lim-
ited chemistries available,
management controls are an
important
consideration,”
Hoey said, adding that farm-
ers should consider breaking
the disease cycle with a non-
grass crop.
A price premium for club
wheat, a subclass of soft
white wheat named for its
clubbed appearance, could
spur more planting this year,
Squires said.
Western white wheat is a
blend of soft white wheat and
club wheat. Key overseas
customers in Japan, Thai-
land and Singapore purchase
Western white wheat.
Club wheat is priced
$1.50 to $2 higher than reg-
ular soft white wheat at vari-
ous locations.
“Which would be good as
total supply has dwindled to
an estimated 12-year low,”
he said.
Expert: Lowest stripe rust in 30-plus years
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
EO Media Group File/East Oregonian
U.S. potato exports are rebounding, a new report fi nds.
U.S. potato exports
rise in marketing year
By BRAD CARLSON
Capital Press
U.S. potato exports
increased by 4% in volume
and 1% in value for the
marketing year that ended
June 30.
Volume exceeded 1.73
million metric tons while
value approached $1.81
billion, Potatoes USA
reported Aug. 19.
Potatoes USA is the
marketing organization for
2,500 U.S. potato farmers.
International
demand
returned in 2021 after fall-
ing in 2020 on COVID-
19 impacts, the marketing
group said. But shipping
problems and tight U.S.
supplies continued to limit
exports.
“Basically, we are look-
ing for a continued recov-
ery in exports this coming
fi scal year,” Potatoes USA
Chief Marketing Offi cer
John Toaspern said in an
interview.
He said demand is
recovering in many inter-
national markets and con-
flicts over trade policy
have eased.
“Another
positive
aspect is that it does
appear European produc-
tion will be smaller than
it was the previous year,”
limiting
competition,
Toaspern said.
Shipping delays, can-
cellations and increasing
costs persist, he said.
“Certainly the resur-
gence of COVID and the
continuing struggle to get
that under control could
have impacts on demand,”
Toaspern said.
The outlook for U.S.
potato supplies “has gotten
less optimistic due to the
hot weather this summer,”
he said. “It’s still too early
to tell, but it could have an
impact on yields.”
Potatoes USA said
the 2020-21 marketing
year’s export gain was
led by a 9% increase in
the fresh category, a 10%
increase in chips and a 2%
increase in frozen prod-
ucts. The categories make
up 51% of exports com-
bined. Only
dehydrated
products
declined
— by 4%,
mainly on
labor issues
John
and
tight
Toaspern
raw-product
supplies.
A big gain in frozen
exports to Mexico, partly
on recovery from an ear-
lier tariff on fries, drove
the increase in the cate-
gory as most Asia markets
were held back by shipping
challenges.
Fresh-potato
exports
increased to Canada, the
biggest destination. They
increased to Mexico but
remained limited to a
16-mile border zone.
Potatoes USA said a
Mexican Supreme Court
decision should help open
the country to U.S. fresh
potatoes. The late April
decision
affi rmed
the
right of Mexico’s Minis-
try of Agriculture to estab-
lish requirements for U.S.
potatoes.
Stripe rust in Pacific North-
west wheat country this year is at
its lowest level since USDA Agri-
cultural Research Service research
geneticist Xianming Chen began
working in the region more than 30
years ago.
“Usually, even if we have low
rust, we can have quite good stripe
rust data in our experimental fields
near Pullman,” Chen told the Cap-
ital Press. “But this year, we even
tried twice to do artificial inocu-
lation. The rust did not develop
because it was very dry, hot weather
conditions.”
Chen arrived in 1985. He’s only
had to inoculate three times in the
last 30 years, he said.
Most years, there’s adequate
rust in Chen’s experimental fields,
which include wheat varieties sus-
ceptible to the disease. Most grow-
ers are raising varieties with some
level of resistance.
There was “almost no rust” in
farmers’ commercial fields, Chen
added.
Based on the Washington State
University campus in Pullman,
Chen plants varieties in Pull-
man, Walla Walla and Mount
Vernon.
This year, the only reliable data
for Chen’s research came from
WSU’s Mount Vernon location on
the wetter, cooler, western side of
the state.
Chen plans to add a winter wheat
nursery under irrigation in Central
Ferry, Wash., in the fall.
“That way, we can guarantee two
sites have a good level of rust,” he
said.
Dry weather began in April and
continued through August.
Just because there was low rust
doesn’t mean there was no rust.
Prior to the artificial inocula-
tion, Chen’s team spotted several
infected leaves at the Pullman site,
considered the first appearance on
the Palouse. That was about two
weeks later than normal, Chen said,
so the spot didn’t develop further.
Stripe rust is completely gone
for the current growing season,
Chen said.
Stripe rust prefers cool, wet
weather.
Matthew Weaver/Capital Press File
Xianming Chen, USDA Agricultural Research Service research geneticist.
“A good year for wheat produc-
tion is also a good year for rust
development,” he said.
There’s still some rust spores in
the plants, but Chen expects a very
low infection rate come fall.
“Even if just a few spores sur-
vive ... later on when weather con-
ditions are favorable, they can
develop very quickly,” Chen said.
He will continue to monitor con-
ditions in winter and spring.
“The rust is still there,” Chen
said. “It’s there, not completely
zero, but not (producing) enough to
do damage.”
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