July 2019

After a good beginning to harvest, Willamette Valley farmers have been delayed by a 4-5 day delay due to untimely rains and wind. Prior to the weather delay, there was active harvesting of turnips, crimson, annual ryegrass and forage fescue. Weather forecasters are currently calling for average temperatures for the next 10 days. It is too early to tell what the impact of the storms will have on the early crops, nor the affect to the later maturing crops, such as turf-type fescues, perennial ryegrass, and the later legumes. So, in short, we just don’t have sufficient information to make even a good guess!

Lack of harvest data is causing many pricing decisions to be put on hold until sufficient quantities of crops are in the barn. That said, it does appear crimson will likely maintain most if not all its strength, orchardgrass will be lower priced than last year, and annual ryegrass will at least start out at a lower price than 2018 crop. Forage fescue is currently softer than last year, but we have no solid thoughts on turf-type tall fescue yet.

Prevent Plant and other farmer relief programs are impacting price and availability of all warm season annuals, brassicas, and legumes, and may impact cool season forage grasses. Stay tuned and stay in touch.

While we now dive headlong into harvest, it’s time for you, our distributors, to start projecting and booking your new crop needs. For most of you, getting your late summer and early fall needs covered is important to work on immediately. As the Willamette Valley seed production continues a cycle of little-to-no carryover, we start out with empty barns and anticipate that we will end up in the same scenario twelve months later. That means, especially for those of you with large spring markets, it is essential to project your needs all the way through next spring.

We can help. First, if you need a list of your prior purchases, just ask and we will send you your purchase history for last year and even prior years. Second, if you want to put your name on product without locking in a price, or if you have a range of quantity needs, talk with your Smith Seed representative about our advanced booking options. Finally, give us a call to discuss what items may be best to lock up early, and what items may be best to wait on. While we can’t guarantee we will always have the right answers or the best advice, we can assure you that we will help you the best way we can. We look forward to hearing from you soon!