Winter Rain Boon, Curse For Farmers

Rains and runoff across the Inland Northwest continued Tuesday, ironically on a day when a federal agency praised farmers for dramatically reducing soil erosion.

The Northwest Resources Conservation Service applauded Washington grain farmers for reducing soil erosion in the past five years by an estimated nine tons per acre - enough to fill two dump truck loads of soil on every acre of cropland.

The findings by the U.S. Department of Agriculture agency come from a large sample of fields taken last fall and do not reflect heavy soil losses this winter because of frequent rains.

“We have had some significant erosive events out there,” said Ross Lahren, state resource conservationist at the NRCS Spokane office. “It could have been a lot worse, but most producers did a pretty good job this year.”

Hangman Creek, the Palouse River and other tributaries look like channels of chocolate milk as top-soil rushes off the farms.

Millions of rills, many of which were formed when January rains pelted frozen ground, have creased the steep slopes of the Palouse.

Spokane homeowners and land developers suffer similar erosion, but most don’t depend on a thick layer of topsoil to produce highyielding wheat and their annual salaries.

“People who go to Las Vegas and think they’re gamblers haven’t got a clue,” said Tom Pottratz, who farms fields near Latah, Fairfield, Rosalia and Plummer. “When you put your whole livelihood on the ground, it’s pretty scary.”

Erosion isn’t the only worry for farmers this winter. Unseasonably warm temperatures have brought to life 3 million acres of dormant winter wheat plants in Washington and Idaho.

Agricultural extension agents said a sudden arctic storm, such as occurred in February 1989, could wipe out the crop while it’s growing without a snow cover.

“In that scenario, the wheat plant doesn’t have adequate time to get its natural `antifreeze’ level back up,” said Bill Schillinger, with Washington State University Cooperative Extension in Adams County.

But growers are pleased to see fields receiving a healthy dose of rain after a string of drought years.

“I’ve been praying for rain for six years,” said Steptoe, Wash., farmer Jim White. “I’m not going to object to it now.”