01/27/05 Winter wheat crop update

Farm and Ranch January 27, 2005 Winter could be taking its toll on some of the nation's U.S. soft red winter wheat acreage, which is already significantly reduced from last year due to fewer seeded acres. USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey, says fields in the Ohio Valley are flooded with ice and water along with freezing and then periods of thawing. Rippey: "You get the heaving of the soils with freeze-thaw cycles and that can disrupt the roots of the wheat plant." And elsewhere Rippey says it continues to be a guessing game as to "where is winter right now?" Rippey: "We've had record warmth on the northern Plains and the snowcover that had been in place across the northern half of the Plains has melted away. So while conditions remain generally favorable for the over wintering wheat crop on the Plains, there is concern now with temperatures climbing up into the 50`s and 60`s all the way into Montana, that the crop is losing some winterhardiness and of course has lost its protective snow cover." That's also the story across the Northwest with the recent unseasonably warm temperatures. As for snow pack and runoff, Rippey says it does not look good for the inland northwest. Rippey: "So we've got not only dry conditions in the interior northwest, we have very low snow pack throughout the northwest. So it looks like barring some late season change here much of the northwest, primarily Oregon, Washington, Idaho, western Montana, and Wyoming, being the primary states, we will likely see another year of drought as the snow packs are very low and prospects for spring runoff are not very good." I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.