WALLA WALLA — As combines zip across the dry fields of wheat in Walla Walla County, the harvest is about 30% complete, but as more loads of grain are brought in, it is becoming more clear that this year’s yields are not looking good.
Cory Christensen, grain merchant for Northwest Grain Growers, said a fair amount of the grain that has been brought in to be stored by the organization has met the expected quality that was predicted before harvest began, which is poor.
Relatively high protein and moderately-to-low test weights are to blame for what Christensen has said are some of the worst soft white wheat yields in the Pacific Northwest.
Soft white wheat, the most common variety of wheat grown in the Walla Walla Valley, needs to have a lower protein to fetch a better price on the market. Higher protein wheat is detrimental in products such as cakes and cookies.
This year, Christensen said the effects of the low-quality yields are already being felt by the farmers who reap the harvest.
“Unfortunately, like we saw in the terrible drought year of 2021, there are discounts now being levied onto growers who have high protein soft white wheat despite our best efforts to avoid them,” Christensen said.
He said local prices on wheat have risen somewhat in the past week as the Ukranian grain shipping infrastructure continues to be pelted and destroyed as the war rages on and the threat of warm, dry weather plagues the U.S. Corn Belt.
“Despite the rebound in value, grain prices are still low when factoring in the extreme high costs our members had to endure to get their crops to this point,” he said.
Portions of the Palouse, Columbia and Spokane counties could see better results in wheat quality, which Christensen said might help balance out the aggregate crops.
Although the Washington Department of Ecology declared Walla Walla and Columbia counties among the 12 under a drought emergency as of Monday, July 24, Christensen said there could still be a chance to get the wheat harvested quickly to prepare for a better crop next year.
“The most recent weather forecasts give us hope we can speed through the bulk of harvest without the threat of rain and quickly pivot to fall planting, even though it might be into heavily depleted soil moisture profiles,” Christensen said.
