Idaho grain crops show resilience despite drought and pests

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - Grain farmers across southern and eastern Idaho are dealing with a difficult growing season after months of drought, spring frost, and increased pest pressure damaged wheat and barley fields.

Despite the difficulties, University of Idaho researcher Juliet Marshall says the overall outlook isn't as bleak as they first expected.

Professor Juliet Marshall from the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, associate director of the Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station, and an Extension cereals specialist, says the problems began during an unusually warm and dry winter. Because temperatures never stayed cold enough for crops to go fully dormant, wheat and barley continued using up soil moisture throughout the winter months.

“In some cases, it’s been as bad as you can imagine, with farmers having to mow, while in other cases some of the worst outcomes have been avoided depending on when and where the crop was planted,” Marshall said. “Overall, the crops recovered quite a bit more than I ever expected.” 

Farmers across the region have noticed this as well. Despite the unusual weather patterns, it did not hit their crop quite as harshly as expected.

"The season has gone pretty well," Adam Young, a 3rd generation farmer of Bingham County, said. "We started out really hot. We had a series of frosts that I think that will have had some impact, but luckily, the timing of those frosts was such that I don't think it's going to have a major impact on our yields. We probably won't be breaking any records this year, but we expect to have a decent yield across our fields."

Adam Young is growing 1,000 acres of wheat and 1,000 acres of barley this year. Eastern Idaho farmers, however, may have avoided even greater damage. Because they typically harvest crops like potatoes and sugar beets later in the year, they also plant fall grain later. Those younger crops hadn't reached the stage where they were most vulnerable when the April freeze hit. Although he will have a slight decrease in his yield, Young says the harshest impact happened to farmers further south.

"The frost did do a significant amount of damage to fields to the south of where we're at, like American Falls and I believe in the Magic Valley, there was a lot of damage that was done as well. But up in our area, the stage of where the crop was when the frosts occurred was more fortuitous than I think is going to have much less of an impact."

The warm winter also allowed aphids and mites to survive in higher numbers than usual. Those insects spread barley yellow dwarf virus and wheat streak mosaic virus, both of which have reduced grain yields across southern and eastern Idaho this year.

Despite the challenges, Marshall says the spring grain crop is looking much better than she anticipated earlier this year.

"The spring crop looks really good," Marshall said. "There was some frost damage, but not nearly enough to cause yield loss."

While many producers are still facing difficult harvests and lower yields, researchers say some Idaho grain fields have proven more resilient than expected, offering hope as the growing season continues.