Wheat lines the edge of a field on June 23, 2021 as a combine harvester traverses fields at Starvation Farms outside of Lexington.

PENDLETON — Unprecedented heat and little precipitation has Northeastern Oregon farmers thinking outside the box.

Stewart Wuest is a soil scientist at the USDA Agricultural Research Center in Adams, in Umatilla County. He said he is observing a lot of shallow soils in fields.

“These areas are dried up and not going to produce much grain at all,” Quest said, “And we have yet to know if the better looking places in the field are going to produce much grain.”

Wuest said when spring conditions are poor, with hot weather and little rain, the heads and flowers of wheat varieties adaptable to early growing conditions don’t get plump and instead appear pinched or shriveled.

“We had a lot of heads of some of the plants that just died and are not going to produce grain,” Wuest said.

As for wheat crops planted later, and in deeper soils, Wuest said the heads look good so far, but the test is going to be if the grain is actually filled to something that can be harvestable.

How does a farmer adapt to these conditions? Wuest said no one can plan for extremely dry years like this one and how to manage crops will be completely different from normal.

“You have to assume this is not a typical year or you you have to question everything you are doing,” Wuest said.

However, there are farming methods that minimize water use. Wuest said less tillage and leaving more post-harvest residue helps increase the ability to produce crops when rain and water are in short supply.

More farmers are turning to this method and choosing not to burn wheat straw. Wuest said leaving the stubble increases water absorption and reduces evaporation. This means using sophisticated drills to get the seed into the ground, which comes at a cost.

“Some growers now understand and believe that it’s worth the extra work to leave residue,” Wuest said.

While dryland wheat farmers are unsure of their yield, farmers who irrigate are having a slightly different experience.

Ray Kopacz, manager of the Stanfield Irrigation District, said the drought isn’t affecting their supply because their water comes from the Columbia River.

“Our water users are using more water because it’s hot and dry,” Kopacz said.

The West Extension Irrigation District in Irrigon, managed by Bev Bridgewater, is feeling the pain of the drought, however.

“Water sources are drying up and we have declared a drought within our district,” Bridgewater said.

West Extension water users are encouraged to monitor and limit their water use.

“We are contacting irrigators using wasteful irrigation practices and have a rotation among our water users,” Bridgewater said. “We anticipate having to rely on our pumped water from the Columbia more this year than we have in recent years and are trying to educate newer landowners how the system works and the necessity to share.”