Spring rains drench hopes for high Cache Valley crop yields

WELLSVILLE — “If it quit raining today, it would still be a couple of weeks before we could be back in the fields and start planting,” said Vern Gunnell, a Wellsville farmer. “We have standing water. The ground is just saturated.”

Gunnell considers himself a “hobby farmer,” who runs about 150 acres of Cache Valley land that belong to a family trust. Originally his grandfather’s property, the land has been in the family for nearly 100 years. “We raise barley on this ground,” he explained. “Typically, if we can plant by May 1, we can get it cut in July. The way things look right now, we won’t be cutting until September, when we risk an early frost.”

Like many farmers throughout Cache Valley, Gunnell is also concerned about the potential impact this spring’s wet weather may have on crop yield. “You’ve already invested in time, equipment and fuel, and you still have to pay to harvest and truck the grain,” he said. “On top of that, there are taxes. If the crop yield is not as good, you sometimes don’t have enough to pay the bills.”

Paying the bills hits home especially hard for Troy Parker, who has made farming his livelihood. Of the 800-1000 acres he runs, Parker leases 275 acres in Hyrum from Linda Christiansen. “Having been married to a farmer for 50-some years before he passed away two years ago,” said Christiansen, “I know that a good crop is such an important part of a farmer’s life, and I feel for Troy. I’d see my husband pick up the dirt and roll it into a ball to see when it’s ready to plant, and it has to be perfect. This year, it’s just wet.”

Currently, a portion of Christiansen’s land is completely submerged in water. Some of her fall grain is so wet that it will have to be tilled out before it matures. It will be too late by then to plant other crops, Christiansen fears. “It’s not very often that we have a spring like this,” she said. “1986 was a really bad year, but I don’t remember rains like this since then. It’s a blessing that they don’t happen a lot, because they can be devastating. It’s very sad because you put all the work into it, and you’re really at the mercy of Mother Nature. Last year was a good year. But this year, she’s not helping much.”

For Parker, the dollars associated with gains and losses in crop yields are significant. During a typical growing season, one acre yields, on average, 100 bushels of grain or one ton of hay. However, yield is dependent on how early crops can be planted. “As the old saying goes,” Parker said, “every day that planting is delayed past April 15 can cost you a bushel a day.”