Heat Affecting Crops & Helping Export Markets

Heat Affecting Crops & Helping Export Markets

Heat Affecting Crops & Helping Export Markets. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report.

Has anyone noticed it's been hot? Not only has the warm weather be causing problems for us humans it has definitely been causing problems for crops. Everything from the wheat and corn crops to apples. The hot dry conditions tend to pull a lot of moisture from the air and really anything so in many cases farmers are seeing grain heads shrivel and according to Todd Fryhover with the Washington Apple Commission, fruit trees are trying to stay alive.

FRYHOVER: Typically when the weather gets this hot the trees respond by protecting their roots. They're more interested in survival than they are in putting out large size fruit so what we see is a stunting of the apple growth during this time so they typically don't grow.

The recent Port issue has left some big holes after shipping giants like Hanjin pulled out of the Port of Portland. Officials from several agencies including the Oregon Department of Agriculture will be traveling around the state to talk with anyone who relies on the global trade market to get an idea what can be done to build new infrastructure for exports. The visits will go on through the summer months. They hope to be able to put together a plan that can then be addressed by the Oregon State legislature next year.

That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network of the West.

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