NorthwestAugust 19, 1993

If farmers could order up the weather, they'd be looking on the menu for three weeks of warm, dry days.

Earlier this week, three days of wet, cool weather brought out the calculators to see what the economics would be of fighting bugs and disease versus a reduced yield.

The damage won't be known until harvesting resumes, agriculture industry spokesmen said Wednesday.

At some elevations, with some crops, that could be as soon as today. Other fields still are green and days away from cutting.

Where protein levels can be affected, rain is particularly bad news, said Ken Houska of the Latah County Soil Conservation Service.

Lentils won't ripen if this keeps up, and peas may start to

discolor, which lowers their grade and the price they'll bring, he

said.

Some growers are having to make a decision about applying

additional fungicide to garbanzo beans to combat blight, said Nez

Perce County Extension Agent Larry J. Smith.

Some stem rust has shown up in the winter wheat, but most of the

wheat is too mature to be treated again, he said.

The majority of wheat fields haven't hit that dead-ripe stage that makes them prime candidates for sprout, which is one of the biggest

fears in that crop, he said.

Some slight instances of sprout have been reported already in

isolated areas. But the result of the last rainstorms won't be known

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until the combines start up again, he said.

A potential problem if rainfall continues is spread of a virus now epidemic in Montana related to the wheat curl mite, Smith said.

The ''green bridge'' could make that a serious problem next year,

he said.

The green bridge is the overlap created by some growers seeding

their fields at the same time others are harvesting. It allows pests

to move from one living host to another and be carried through the

winter to a new growing season.

Field people will be asking growers who favor early planting to

wait awhile, even though soil moisture and other conditions may be

ideal, Smith said.

Smith expects harvest to continue at least another three weeks,

and many farmers like to get their winter crops in the ground in

September to get them well established. This year, it might be

advisable to wait until the first week of October to seed, he

suggested.

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