Hopefully, you have seeded your alfalfa by now. If not, Washington State University and the Washington State Hay Growers Association have alfalfa variety trials in Pasco & Othello. Yield information is also available from the Prosser Experiment Station.

The 1999 Washington wheat crop forecast decreased slightly from the July forecast, based on the Aug. 1 Crop Production report released by the WASS. "With harvest getting off to a very slow start, farmers are finding a wide range of maturity levels, even within the same fields," stated Doug Hasslen, of the WASS. "There are portions of fields ready for the combine while other portions are still too green. This is further adding to the slower harvest progress."

Washington's 1.67-million acres of winter wheat for harvest were in mostly fair to good condition as of the beginning of August. Harvest was progressing slower than normal, with 8% of the crop harvested as of July 25 and 18% harvested by Aug. 1.

Last year, 30% of the crop was harvested by the 1st of August, and the average harvest progress over the last five years was 33%. Head counts are slightly above average with weight per head below average. Producers are forecast to harvest 58 bushels per acre, based on conditions as of Aug. 1. This is a 2-bushel decrease from the July forecast and 7 bushels lower than last year's yield. With acreage for harvest at 1.67-million acres, total production is expected to be 96.86-million bushels, a 29% decrease from last year and 32% less than the 141.9-million bushels harvested in 1997.

Spring wheat harvest was just underway with 4% completed as of Aug. 1, behind last year's 11% and the 5 year average of 15%. Spring wheat was in mostly fair condition, as of Aug. 1. The spring wheat crop is expected to yield 42 bushels per acre. This is unchanged from the July 1 estimate, and 3 bushels less than the 1998 yield.

Acres for harvest totaled 620,000 acres, up from 465,000 acres last year. Production is forecast at 26.04-million bushels, 24% above last year's 20.93-million bushels.

Conditions of the barley crop were mostly fair to poor, with 6% harvested by Aug. 1. This was behind last year's 16% and behind the 5-year average of 21%. Per acre yields are expected to average 55 bushels, unchanged from the July 1 forecast and 10 bushels less than 1998. With 490,000 acres for harvest, production will total 26.95-million bushels, 20% less than 1998.

Nationally, winter wheat is expected to average 47.4 bushels per acre from 35.6-million acres for harvest, which is a record yield per acre. Total production is expected to be 1.69-billion bushels, 10% below the 1998 production. Spring wheat (other than durum) is expected to decrease production by 3% to 512.1-million bushels.

Forecast productions for other crops and their change from 1998 are as follows: barley, 281.4-million bushels, 20% below last year; alfalfa hay, 83.16-million tons, up 1%; other hay, 77.6-million tons, up 12%; dry beans, 31.5-million cwt., up 2%; hops, 62.08-million pounds, up 4%; corn for grain, 9.56-billion bushels, down 2%; oats, 162.1-million bushels, down 30%; and sugarbeets, 32.7-million tons, up slightly from last year.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is donating 90,000 tons of U.S. wheat to Ethiopia under the Food for Progress Program. According to USDA, the wheat will aid 2.4 million Ethiopians during the country's current famine and will also lay the groundwork for future commercial agricultural relationships between the two countries.

The Department is also donating 35,000 tons of US wheat to Georgia under the program. The wheat will be sold on the open market, with the proceeds going to aid the Georgian government's budget. Additionally, the USDA is providing $13 million under PL 480 Title I to Pakistan to buy 100,000 tons of U.S. wheat. The sales must take place during U.S. fiscal year 1999.

The Food for Progress program allows USDA to donate U.S. agricultural commodities to help private enterprise and development in countries seeking to implement political and market reforms.

While the weather has been causing havoc in some parts of the U.S. and Canada this year, other countries are not immune to the whims of Mother Nature. Drought conditions affected wheat in one of Spain's major producing areas and also in parts of Portugal. The most severe drought in decades drastically reduced wheat production in Jordan, Iraq, and Syria. In Iran, drought and the worst water shortage in three decades has caused a projected decrease of 25% of wheat production from last year. In Armenia, production is expected to fall due to a dry autumn and winter which reduced planting acreage and damaged winter wheat. Wheat production is expected to fall in Morocco, tentatively forecast about 50% below 1998 and similar to the drought-reduced level of 1997. In Tunisia, wheat production is forecast to decline by about 8% compared to the previous year due to inadequate rainfall and reduced planting.

Initial Results from the US Wheat Council's spring and durum wheat survey

Wheat experts touring North Dakota this week have made their initial observations. Overall potential US hard red spring wheat yields were pegged at 30.5 bushels per acre, compared with 32.5 bushels per acre one year ago. Final yields for durum wheat were pegged at 23.2 bushels per acre, down from last year's level of 26.8 bushels per acre. Although some instances of leaf rust, root rot and head scab were reported, the 1999/00 spring wheat crop seems to have no serious disease problems. Anecdotal reports indicated protein levels ranged from 11.5% to 13.0% in areas where harvest had already begun. Tour participants were in general agreement that late plantings and waterlogged cropland have led to most of the reduced yield potential this year.

MoreCrop is an information technology system for managing diseases of wheat developed for the Pacific Northwest (PNW). MoreCrop is an acronym for Managerial Options for Reasonable Economical Control of Rusts and Other Pathogens. We designed MoreCrop to predict diseases and provide managerial options in agronomic zones of the PNW.

MoreCrop uses the classical disease triangle in predicting a disease outcome. This means that a susceptible host, a virulent pathogen, and favorable environmental conditions must exist for the disease to develop and cause damage to the crop. MoreCrop predicts diseases and provides information, options, and suggestions for making decisions regarding management of wheat diseases based on geographical regions, agronomic zones, crop managerial practices, cultivar characteristics, field and disease history, and prevailing weather. MoreCrop can use past managerial decisions to reconstruct disease conditions, help you decide what disease control option to select, and provide disease and cultivar-related information for research, extension, and education.

We constantly update and expand MoreCrop to include new information on agronomic zones, diseases, wheat cultivars and their disease resistance characteristics, seed treatments and foliar sprays, and to use new computer technology.

You can access and download MoreCrop through the GrowServ Web Site at http://pnw-ag.wsu.edu/.

"Washington's first production forecast for the 1999 apple crop is 5.2-billion pounds, down 19% percent from last year's record breaking 6.4-billion pounds," stated Doug Hasslen. Apple production was hampered by pollination problems and frost. Washington accounts for 49% of the forecast compared to producing 56% of the Nation's apples last year.

Nationally, apple production is forecast at 10.6-billion pounds, down 7% from the 1998 crop, but 2% above 1997. Decreased production in the Western states more than offset increased production prospects in most of the Eastern states. Production increases are expected in 25 of the top 34 producing states.

Production in the Western states is forecast at 6.3-billion pounds, down 18% from 1998. All Western states except California are estimating decreased production in 1999. Apple production in the central states is expected to be 1.5-billion pounds, up 12% from last year. All of the central states expect increases in production except Tennessee. In the Eastern states, production is forecast to be 2.7-billion pounds, up 18% from 1998. All states except South Carolina and New Jersey expect increases.

The 4th Annual Horseman's Conference will be held on October 16, 1999, in the CUB ballroom in Pullman. Topics will cover: recent developments in orthopedic surgery, new technology for lameness diagnosis, care and nutrition of the geriatric horse, new diagnostic and therapeutic options in neurologic disease in horses, neonatal intensive care, new information about various diseases which can cause tying up, and using the WSU web page to get information regarding your horse's health.

Brochures for the Horseman's Conference can be picked up in the Kennewick Extension office. The registration deadline is October 1,1999.

Uniform spreading of combine residue has advantages whether you use a no till, minimum till or conventional tillage cultivation method in your fields. Today, crop residue levels are higher. This has occurred for the following two reasons:

1) Many new wheat varieties have increased crop residue production. Paul Rasmussen, a soil scientist at Pendleton, conducted a study which determined that crop residue production had increased 19 percent from a semi-dwarf variety as compared to a 1953 tall wheat variety. Furthermore, the chaff increased by 63 percent, which resulted in a increase of 698 pounds per acre. An increase also occurred in stems and leaves, but only at levels of 8 and 18 percent, respectively.

2) Fertilizer use has increased, resulting in increased wheat yields and crop residue matter.

Changes in wheat genetics, technology, and nutrition have created several problems for producers when a residue spreader is not used or is defective. Today's combines have wider headers. In the 1950's, a typical header was 12 feet wide; today it can range from 20 to 30 feet or more. Combines without special attachments or modification to the wider header may not adequately or uniformly spread larger volumes of residue being processed. Furthermore, residue problems are increased when a no-till or minimum-till cultivation method is used. Some of these problems are:

Poor drill performance as a result of plugging, causing seeds to be planted at uneven depths, or straw becoming intermingled with the seed and concentrated in the seed row.

Improper seed to soil the contact, preventing or delaying germination.

Less sun contact causing soil to be colder and receive less light. Soils when colder may also be wetter, thus reducing the plant's growth.

Microbial activity is reduced because the residue will take up nutrients as part of its decomposition process. Thus, nutrients are no longer available for the plants' growth.

Residue provides food and a cool, moist environment which favors some diseases, such as Pythium root rot.

Applied herbicides can be less effective due to delayed germination of weed and volunteer crop seeds. A loss in effective weed management, time, labor and equipment resources and income can ensue.

Residue build-up provides pests, such as rodents, with cover and protection from predators.

Residue management problems can be avoided or minimized by buying factory-made combines with a chaff and/or straw spreader, or through modification of existing equipment. Some growers have made their own modifications. Commercial spreaders and flail systems are available for most combine models. A good residue distribution system will provide financial returns to the producer through higher yields and lowered input costs. Producers can obtain more information from equipment dealers, Cooperative Extension, and private fabricators.

A commercial spreader manufacture's list is available on the Internet at http://www.ncw.wsu.edu/agron.htm. Click on PNW STEEP III, then Conservation Tillage Handbook, proceed to Chapter 3 No. 19 "The First No-Till Step Combine Residue Spreading". You may phone Lynn Alderson at 509/745-8531 and request a copy of the list also.

"Over 30 agricultural products may be subject to mandatory biotechnology labeling under a proposal announced this week by Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF)" says Kenneth Hobbie, USGC president and CEO. Under the scheme, food items including corn snacks, popcorn, or those with corn starch, corn flour, corn grits or corn oil will be subject to labeling that denotes whether they contain "genetically modified or non-genetically modified ingredients" and whether or not those ingredients were "segregated or non-segregated."

"Both manufacturers and importers will be obligated to label these foods," says Hobbie. The new labeling standards will be announced in April 2000 to be implemented by April 2001. What's interesting is that MAFF would use a system of 'social verification' of compiance&emdash;meaning the truthfulness of the labels is only verified by keeping documentation on the production and distribution of ingredients.

"I believe that there could be disruption in the normal flow of agricultural exports to Japan," said Hobbie, "because the standards are not science-based. In fact, this proposal would be inconsistent with other food safety regulatory approval processes already in place in Japan." This week's long-awaited MAFF announcement would require labeling on over 20 products such as Bt corn and others previously approved as safe by Japan's Ministry of Health.

"This announcement is very disappointing. There's no question that consumers have a right to know what is in their food&emdash;if in fact there is some health risk or scientific basis. But to impose blanket labeling, when foods may not even contain biotechnology is ludicrous," Hobbie says.

Second. this is the proverbial putting the cart before the horse. How can Japan propose labeling without the standards in place?" Hobbie continued "Biotechnology research and production is underway in so many countries&emdash;on artichokes in Egypt and date palms in Malaysia, on rice in Japan. So this proposal would not only affect products from the United States, but food production around the world.

"I hope that the world agricultural community will continue to follow this proposal and others like it very closely. As we move forward with agricultural biotechnology, we must make sure our discussions, regulation and labeling are done in the most rigorous scientific arena. And we must remain vigilant to keep all world markets open to the free flow of safe food products."