08/26/08 Wet weather brings sprout concerns for wheat

Washington Ag August 26, 2008 The recent cool and wet weather has farmers with unharvested wheat concerned about sprout damage. Severe sprout can make the wheat worthless for food uses lowering its value to feed grain. Tom Mick, CEO of the Washington Grain Alliance, says so far he has not heard of any actual sprout. Mick: "Down in the Palouse I heard that last week they received upwards of 1.5 inches of rain, which has created a situation where the kernels are very soft and if the wet weather continues then the possibility of sprout might become a reality." According to the weekly crop weather report from the Agricultural Statistics Service, Washington farmers still had about 14 percent of the state's winter wheat crop to harvest at the start of this week. Forty four percent of the spring wheat had yet to be cut and 49 percent of the barley. The rain however has been good news for some growers. Mick: "They guys in the drier area have actually made the decision to delay planting because there just wasn't enough subsoil moisture. So they are welcoming the rain while guys in the higher rainfall areas who are just getting started on harvest don't like it at all." Second and third cuttings of hay around the state were also damaged by the rain. I'm Bob Hoff.