Farmers in Washington state lost at least $336 million to thedrought last summer, a preliminary estimate likely to climb as morefigures on yields and prices became available, according to areport by the state Department of Agriculture, the Capital Press of Salem, Ore., reported.

The report estimated specific dollar losses foronly a handful of crops — wheat, apples, blueberries and redraspberries.

Losses for other commodities, including Washington mainstayssuch as potatoes, milk and cattle, will be tallied later asinformation becomes available, according to the Washington StateDepartment of Agriculture (WSDA).

The report suggests the drought affected most growers. Nearlytwo-thirds who answered a WSDA survey said the quality ormarketability of their crops suffered in the state’s first droughtin a decade.

“I suspect in the final report the losses will be higher,” WSDAspokesman Hector Castro told the newspaper. “This early reportconfirms what a lot of people knew. The drought caused a lot ofharm for farmers around the state.”

WSDA will issue a final report one year from now on thedrought’s impact on Washington’s farm economy, which the U.S.Department of Agriculture calculated was worth $10.1 billion in2014.

“This is an incomplete picture, and we know that it’s anincomplete picture,” Castro said. “We’re not through counting yet.A lot of commodity groups are not counted because the informationwasn’t available.”

The report’s findings included:

• Wheat production was particularly hard-hit. The harvest wasdown 22% from the average yields over the previous five years. Atrecent prices, the lower yields could cost farmers $212.4 million.In 2014, USDA reported Washington’s wheat crop was worth $715million.
• The apple industry estimated the drought or extreme heatreduced production by 280 million pounds. Based on 2014 prices, thelower yields represented a potential loss of $86.52 million. Appleswere a $1.9 billion business in 2014. Early harvest varieties weremost affected by water shortages and heat in the Yakima Valley.Apple growing regions to the north in Chelan, Okanogan and DouglasCounties were hurt less by the drought.
• Blueberries, grown primarily in northwest Washington, also lostproduction to the heat. Based on estimates from growers, thedrought reduced yields by 8 million pounds, causing a loss inincome of approximately $12 million.
• Red raspberries, also grown in the northwest corner of state,suffered a 26% decline in production. The lower yields cost farmersan estimated $13.9 million.
• Cherries and pears, two of Washington’s top 10 crops, wereharvested early because of high temperatures in Central Washingtonand the Columbia Basin. The crops, however, sustained littledamage.
• Some 460 growers were asked whether the drought and heatimpacted the quality or marketability of their crops. About 65%said they had.
• One-third of growers said they spent money for drought-reliefmeasures such as cloth shades, sprinklers or more efficientirrigation equipment.

The preliminary assessment did not try to put a figure on howmuch farmers spent to cope with drought.

Related: California sinking into arid earth as farmers suckwater dry

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