Spring Planting Begins in Idaho

LEWISTON, Idaho (AP) — Spring planting is starting to get underway in Idaho with prospects for higher wheat prices this year. U.S. Wheat Associates reports a 15 percent jump in wheat prices this month was because of both political unrest in the Ukraine as well as concerns about drought around the globe and potential freeze damage in the Southern U.S. Locally, farmers are about three weeks behind normal for fertilizing and early seeding. Geremy Nelson of Farm Services Agency in Asotin and Garfield counties says a few farmers have started planting, but many are spraying their winter wheat crops with fertilizer. Although it's still too early to tell, Nelson tells the Lewiston Tribune (http://bit.ly/1mgiDto) that it appears winter crops survived the sub-freezing temperatures.