More Than Crops

Harvest is late again this year. There's been rust in the fields. A series of recent thunder storms has done its damage to some area acreage.

So why are Touchet Valley farmers smiling?

It's because another great crop is just on the horizon for 2012.

The yields may not be quite what they were last year. Wash- ington growers expect to cut 1.7 million acres of winter wheat this year, down 60,000 acres from last year, while the number of acres in spring wheat is down 140,000.

Spring wheat yields are projected at 55 bushels per acre, down seven bushels from 2011. Growers in the state are expected to produce 115.2 million bushels, down 11 percent from last year.

But prices are higher than they have been in several years, by some estimates the highest they've been at harvest time. At more than $8 per bushel, they are $1.50 to $2 higher than last year.

As a result, most farmers are very optimistic about their prospects for this year's bounty. On the eve of the 2012 harvest and upon this week's publication of our special annual Harvest Edition, we want to wish our growers the best of luck in the fields during these critical weeks.

Cutting has already begun in the western part of Walla Walla County and combines will be rolling east towards the Blue Mountains into August.

It's a time of long, hard days and family teamwork as the community focuses on what our farmers need to bring in their crops.

On this occasion, we want to express our appreciation to our growers for being the cornerstone of our local economy, for supporting our local infrastructure and causes through taxes and charitable contributions and for embracing better stewardship of our valley's natural environment.

In that context, a number of local farmers deserve a pat on the back for their support of helping clean up fish habitat with the backing and encouragement of local groups.

Local agencies and fishermen said farmers and property owners have paved the way for projects that stopped erosion and improved fish spawning on their land.

In some cases, these landowners even contributed their labor and funds to help complete the projects in an environmental improvement trend that has become almost contagious with farmers inspired by their success of their neighbors' restoration efforts.

At least four out of five farmers in the area now use a no-till method of farming, which greatly reduces soil erosion, accord- ing to employees at the state's Department of Fish & Wildlife.

As Managing Editor Jillian Beaudry reports, the new land stewardship is a far cry from dumping cars down the river banks to shore up their stability, running tractors through spawning areas or wading their cattle through the river.

A number of local groups and agencies deserve credit for get- ting the farmers involved: Snake River Salmon Recovery Board, Walla Walla Watershed Management Partnership, Fish & Wild- life, the Walla Walla Watershed Council, Tri-State Steelheaders and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.

During the past eight years, the Snake River Region has funded 128 projects worth more than $18.5 million to protect and restore salmon habitat.

Naturally, these financial incentives help the growers, some of whom lease a portion of their land to the federal government to protect streams and the work that's done to them. But many landowners themselves pitch in with enthusiastic collaboration and volunteer contributions inspired, no doubt, by strong family values and the realization that it's important to protect their land for future generations so their farming tradition can continue.

That type of long-term visioning helps our entire community as it makes our water cleaner, our fish more abundant and our landscape more attractive. The projects help our local economy through the purchase of labor and materials. Bank restoration and enforcement, and low-impact seeding help the landowners by reducing flood problems.

If that isn't a win-win we don't know what is.