| CHEYENNE Irrigation water supplies are expected to be
short in more than half the state this summer, federal
agriculture officials said.
Supplies are a big concern for Wyoming producers, the
USDAs Wyoming Agricultural Statistics Service said.
Only 45 percent of the state is expected to have adequate
supplies. Forty-one percent is projected to be short of enough
water, while 14 percent was expected to be very short, the
service said.
In addition, stream flow will be well below normal for
the entire state, the agency said in its weekly release.
Snowpack was still rated below normal to much below
normal throughout the state, the report said. For the
reservoirs reporting, storage was near average as of the end
of March.
Soil moisture was drier than normal, with 34 percent short
of adequate moisture and 3 percent very short. However, those
figures were better than the previous week, thanks to heavy
snows in northeastern and southeastern Wyoming.
The five-year averages are 16 percent and 1 percent,
respectively.
Cooler, damp weather slowed field work and crop
development.
By weeks end, 52 percent of the barley crop had been
seeded, compared to 57 percent last year and 61 percent over
the five-year average.
Sugar beet producers had planted 24 percent of the crop,
well behind last years 54 percent but equal to the average. |