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SPRING RAIN | UNION COUNTY
Union:
Continued from Page 16
“That was a real wake up call for me,”
Walenta said. “I fi gured I would see mois-
ture in the soil profi le. At this rate, we will
have to get more consistent wet seasons to
fi ll the profi le.”
The spring precipitation and cold tem-
peratures were a drastic swing from the
spring of 2021 when conditions were
unusually hot and dry, stunting young
crops. Nathan Wisehower of Union County
Seed Growers said last year’s weather con-
ditions were record setting.
“I don’t remember a year that was that
brutally hot for so long,” Wisehower said.
“It’s uncommon to hit 100 degrees in June.”
La Grande topped out at a record 108
degrees in late June 2021.
This year, Wisehower said, farmers are
recovering, but not back to average.
On June 7, Gov. Kate Brown approved
Union County’s request for a drought dec-
laration. The governor’s executive order
directs the Oregon Department of Agricul-
ture to “provide assistance in seeking fed-
eral resources to mitigate drought condi-
tions and assist in agriculture recovery.”
In some cases this spring’s rainfall was
“It’s an unusual situation,” Wisehower
said.
Until March, Wisehower said the county
was about seven inches behind in precipi-
tation, but the amount of rainfall and snow
this spring caught up the county’s water
“THE SPRING RAINS WERE CERTAINLY
BENEFICIAL. THERE IS NO DOUBT IT CAME
WHEN WE NEEDED IT TO GET CROPS UP
AND RUNNING AND FILLING SURFACE WATER
STORAGE FACILITIES, BUT IT DIDN’T TAKE
AWAY ALL THE PROLONGED EFFECTS.”
— Darrin Walenta, Oregon State University Extension Service
too much of a good thing.
Excessive rains in some areas made get-
ting a few things done in the fi eld diffi cult,
Wisehower said, and the moisture, com-
bined with below-average temperatures,
stalled some crops from getting established.
year to the 30-year long term average of 17
inches.
As for fl ooding, some of Wisehower’s
acreage along Catherine Creek was lost
this spring, but he said most of the water
went into the soil and down the creeks and
rivers pretty quickly.
In 2021 it wasn’t only record heat that
slowed down crops.
Frost in early June also aff ected growth
of grass seed crops.
Frost, followed by 100-degree weather,
is rough on seed crops, as the heads won’t
fi ll or produce, Wisehower said.
While farm production was hard hit
last year in Union County, Wisehower said
prices were up.
As for the coming growing season, July
through the end of September, the National
Weather Service predicts above normal
temperatures and below normal precipita-
tion for Union County.
Compared to the rest of the state,
Union County is doing relatively well,
drought-wise.
As of June 28, the northern half of Union
County is not in drought, according to the
U.S. Drought Monitor.
The southern roughly half of the county
is rated as “abnormally dry,” one step
below the fi rst of four, successively more
severe, drought categories.
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