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TRANSACTIONS 35 AMERICAN RURAL 36 Business
Heat, Drought Portend Low Grain Harvest Flathead farmers reporting low hay crops, potentially no second cutting
IBY MOLLY PRIDDY OF THE BEACON
t’s been a whirlwind year for farm- ers in Montana, with extreme weather and market prices dictat-
ing what will likely be a tough harvest for those in the agriculture business in the northwest corner of the state.
Drought and extreme heat have hin- dered grain production, and prices for grains have been on a steady decline since the end of 2014. Around the world, farmers are raising near-record levels of wheat, clocking in at 722 mil- lion tons, according to the U.S. Depart- ment of Agriculture.
Some areas of the state have been lucky, getting the precipitation needed to produce wheat, canola, and hay. But in areas with drought, such as the Flat- head Valley, dry-land farmers – those
who don’t use irrigation in their fields – are hoping to at least reap half of a normal harvest.
“With the forage, the hay and alfalfa, if it’s irrigated we’re doing OK,” Pat McGlynn, the Flathead’s extension agent, said. “But the dry-land farming is really taking a hit.”
According to a report from the Kalispell CHS Agronomy Department, the upcoming harvest for grains and hay in the Flathead will most likely be about 50 percent of normal levels.
May this year was the driest on record, and June was the warmest on record. Adding those together means incredibly tough con- ditions for the valley’s grains
and canola, because the all-important seeds that grow on the top of the
canola and wheat don’t thrive in such heat so early on in the growth process. Farmers reporting to CHS said their dry-land fields are short and sparse, with one farmer reporting his hay yield so far at just 33 per- cent of normal, while other farmers are considering cutting their wheat
early to sell as forage.
Instead of waiting it out to see if the
rain falls and saves the wheat crop, some local farmers would rather cut their losses and harvest the wheat while it still has nutritional proper- ties, instead of waiting and having it turn to straw, McGlynn said.
Most consumers in the Flathead won’t feel the repercussions of a tough local wheat harvest, CHS reported, because the global market is produc- ing at a level only second to the high- est year on record, which happened to
be 2014.
There’s plenty of wheat in a
global sense, CHS reported, so locally, the biggest hit will
A wheat field
near Somers.
GREG LINDSTROM FLATHEAD BEACON
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