04/23/08 Cool spring impacting crops

Washington Ag April 23, 2008 The cool, wet spring of 2008 has slowed planting of spring crops, delayed development of field crops generally and caused some fruit losses. That's the report in this week's Crop Weather Bulletin from the Washington Field Office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service. At the Washington State Fruit Commission Teresa Baggarley International Program Coordinator, says the cold nights caused hit and miss damage to the cherry crop. Baggarley: "It is unfortunate that some of the farmers are saying they lost the majority of the crop. But I think it is just in areas. I think most people have seen some damage but we are still thinking we should be real comparable to last year's record crop, in volume." Baggarley says quality could even be better as a result of the thinning, which would be good news for marketing. USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey says spring wheat planting in Washington is well behind the average pace for now. Rippey: "With 57%. The five year average is 75%." Planting progress is also behind normal for barley, potatoes, and dry and processing peas. Winter wheat development has also been slow which could be a problem if pollination occurs during hot weather. Some winter wheat in Douglas county was still under snow. Cattle producers are seeing slow pasture growth requiring some to keep feeding hay, which is in short supply. I'm Bob Hoff.