Northwestern Farmers Need A Break
Northwestern farmers have had it tough this year.
In January and February the snow was still falling at a record pace. March, April and May saw extensive rains and flooding conditions, and this summer brought a record heat-wave, preventing farmers from planting seeds.
Jake Putnam with the Idaho Farm Bureau says:
"while we were behind to all of a sudden switch to this extreme heat has kind of stressed a lot of our row crops out. Seems like every summer we have a heat wave like this, but it always breaks. Last year we had a couple of weeks of heat like this and it resulted in one of the biggest sugar beet crops in state history, and it's also been good for wheat."
But he also says, these temperatures could be a blessing in disguise, at least for some farmers:
"I think farmers across the board are optimistic because markets are picking up...cattle market is up, wheat is up and the potato market looks promising because we had fewer acres. Wheat is up. The one thing that worries us is if we have too many weeks of this heat, at the wrong time, but so far things are looking good."
Across the board, Northwestern farmers are hoping for a more mild August and September, but now the next big concern is creeping up on them literally, as Mormon Cricket swarms have hit some areas of Colorado, Washington, Idaho Nevada and Oregon.
