Weather insurance will have to do the job for growers in Idaho.

Disease pressure is high in cereals, writes the University of Idaho, partly due to fungi and partly due to viruses caused by high aphid pressure. Winter barley, which normally does not ear until late May, was already flowering in mid-April in some places this year. In the east of the state, late (night) frost may cause damage.

It hasn't actually been really cold in Idaho this winter. This poses problems regarding potato storage, explains Kasia Duellman, a seed potato specialist at the University of Idaho, in the report. "These spontaneously sprouted potatoes can serve as reservoirs for potato Y virus, potentially increasing the risk of a year with high virus pressure in the seed potatoes," says Duellman. "Another risk with potato storage is the possibility that the overwintered tubers contain the notorious potato blight Phytophthora and form a focal point in the new season."

However, the biggest problem for farmers in the state is the lack of water. Some growers have chosen to spray crops that did not survive the winter well. There are also growers who are leaving part of their acreage fallow, according to Juliet Marshall, deputy director of the Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station. "I really hope everyone has good comprehensive weather insurance," said Marshall. "I don't know how anyone else is going to make ends meet this year."