Range managers use the chemical Oust as part of their rehabilitation efforts in recently burned desert areas to keep cheat grass and other weeds from gaining a foothold before native plants can be re-established.

BLM vegetation specialists applied the herbicide to about 17,000 acres of the area scorched by fire last summer.

"What they suspect is it had blown off the area that had burned where it had been spread," said Don Morishita, a weed specialist with the Department of Agriculture.

Morishita, along with specialists from the BLM and DuPont, which manufactures Oust, as well as advisers hired by the farmers, are working to find answers.

Farmers' claims that the chemical has blown into their fields from the nearby fire site have DuPont and BLM experts puzzled because the chemical has never spread to fields before.

Dan Schaeffer, spokesman for a committee of the affected farmers, says this year's drought conditions are to blame for the loose dirt that is spreading the herbicide.

With no vegetation or moisture to hold it in place, the soil was subject to more erosion this winter than in the past.

"There are dunes of soil all around the edge of that burned area," Schaeffer said.

At least 10,000 acres of crops are affected in eastern Jerome County and western Minidoka County.

Schaeffer said farmers began noticing something was not right in mid-May when some crops were stunted.

"The ones severely affected are dead," Schaeffer said.

He estimated that some farmers could face up to a 70 percent reduction in yield this year.

More than 40 farmers in the Aberdeen and American Falls area are experiencing similar problems.

Schaeffer estimated between 20,000 and 30,000 acres of crops could be affected there.

Soil samples from the affected farms are being collected by the state Department of Agriculture and sent to the University of Montana for analysis.

Bob Spencer, of the Department of Agriculture, said he hopes to get more answers this week.

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Local 8 News Report:

Spray May Have Harmed Beet Farms
Aberdeen - THE BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT AND IDAHO DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE ARE INVESTIGATING CONCERNS THAT AN HERBACIDE IS CAUSING DAMAGE TO SUGAR BEETS.
MAS TADESSE SPENT THE DAY IN ABERDEEN TALKING TO FARMERS.MAS?
SUGAR BEETS ARE A WAY OF LIFE IN ABERDEEN. ONE FARMER I SPOKE WITH TODAY SAYS IN HIS THIRTY YEARS OF FARMING SUGAR BEETS, HE'S NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS.
PAUL BEHREND WAS INSPECTING A FIELD NEXT TO AN AREA THAT WAS BURNED BY FIRES LAST YEAR.
SO LAST YEAR THE B-L-M SPRAYED A HERBICIDE CALLED OUST TO STOP THE POTENTIAL FIRES. PAUL BEHREND IS A SUGAR BEET FARMER NOTICED THAT HIS SUGAR BEETS WERE NOT GROWING.
Paul Behrend\Farmer, Sugar Beets:
"Approximately four weeks ago we started noticing with out first cultivation."
BEHREND SAYS THE SUGAR BEETS HAD AN ABNORMAL RED COLOR AND WERE SPREAD FAR APART. B-L-M SPOKESPERSON DAVID HOWELL, SAYS THE HERBICIDE OUST MIGHT BE THE CAUSE.
David Howell\Spokesman, BLM:
"What their concern is that the oust may have soil particles out of the spray area and may have affected some of the crops and that is a valid concern."
THE REASON WHY THEY WERE SPRAYING IS TO HELP CONTROL WEEDS ON PUBLIC LAND BURNED BY FIRES. ONE OF THEIR MAIN CONCERN IS CHEAT GRASS.
David Howell\Spokesman, BLM:
"It can go from soaking wet to completly dry and ready to burn in about one hour."
Paul Behrend\Farmer, Sugar Beets:
"We water right. After we cultivate the first time. That the beets seemed to be shrinking getting smaller."
DENNIS BAUER SAYS HE WILL BE HAPPY IF HE CAN GET SELL HALF OF HIS SUGAR BEETS THIS SEASON.
THE FARMERS THAT I SPOKE TO PULLED OUT AN AVERAGE SUGAR BEET AND THE SUGAR BEETS THAT THEY ARE GETTING. AS YOU CAN SEE THERE IS A HUGE DIFFERENCE.
SOME CONCRETE RESULTS WILL ARRIVE FROM MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY, NEXT WEEK.