Western Oregon and southwest Washington have deteriorated from moderate to “severe drought” in the past week, the U.S. Drought Monitor reported Thursday.

A severe drought that already had covered much of Eastern Oregon crossed over the Cascades into the Willamette Valley and as far south as Douglas County. The percentage of the state in severe drought more than doubled to 55 percent from 25 percent. The southwest corner of Washington, making up 6 percent of the state, moved from moderate to severe drought. It’s the first time any part of Washington has been in a severe drought since late 2015.

“What we really need is to see some recovery in soil moisture and streams flows, and the long-term forecast is hot and dry,” said Kathie Dello, associate director of the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute.

The weekly drought report, a snapshot of current conditions, continues a summer-long trend toward drought developing in the Northwest. The USDA reported this week that while some crops were thriving in the heat, others were showing signs of stress.

The USDA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the University of Nebraska collaborate on the Drought Monitor. The four stages of drought range from moderate to exceptional.

Some 83 percent of Oregon and 29 percent of Washington are at least in moderate drought. Most areas not in drought are “abnormally dry,” according to the monitor.

Two months ago, Washington was on the wet side, as was Western Oregon. The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center says the odds favor above-average temperatures and below-normal precipitation to continue for the rest of the summer.

Washington State Assistant Climatologist Karin Bumbaco said periodic summer rains have been absent, while temperatures have been high.

“It’s looking like it’ll get worse before it gets better,” she said.

In Idaho and California, conditions have been steady. Some 6 percent of Idaho is in a moderate drought, while drought conditions range from moderate to extreme over 44 percent of California.

Washington State Climatologist Nick Bond said he expects August to be warmer than average, but for temperatures to be more moderate than in July.

“I don’t think there will be the sustained heat as it has been in July,” he said.

Sea-surface temperatures along the equator in the Pacific Ocean have been warming up. There is a 70 percent an El Nino will form next winter, according to the Climate Prediction Center. Northwest winters are generally warm during an El Nino.

La Nina conditions, a cooling of the ocean associated with robust snowpacks, have prevailed the past two winters. A third straight La Nina can probably be ruled out, Bond said.

“My feeling is that it’s more likely than not to get into the weak to moderate El Nino category,” he said.

In a weekly crop report, the USDA said that irrigated crops in Oregon were doing fine, but unirrigated pastures were drying up. In Washington, unusually high temperatures around Puget Sound were stressing crops. “All producers with access to irrigation were irrigating,” according to the USDA.

DUFUR, Ore. (AP) — Authorities have issued mandatory evacuation notices to residents southeast of The Dalles because of a wildfire.

The Wasco County Sheriff’s Office said on Facebook Thursday evening that residents along the Deschutes River from Sherars Falls to Mack’s Canyon should leave their homes immediately.

The Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Center says the fire was reported at about 4:30 p.m. Thursday between Dufur and the Deschutes River. The center says as of Thursday night the blaze had burned nearly 10 square miles and had approached but not crossed the river.

In the same area last week a man died in the Substation fire which burned about 123 square miles and was nearly contained as of Thursday.

An Oregon cattlemen’s group is asking members of the ag community to ride to the aid of ranchers and others who were impacted by the wildfires that have swept across parts of the state.

“It is with heavy hearts that we continue to witness the mass destruction and devastation caused by wildfires that continue to rage across Oregon, affecting ranching families,” the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association said in a press release. “Not only have these ranchers lost horses, feed and beef cattle, one farmer lost his life trying to prevent fire from spreading.

“We ask Oregon ranchers to come together and support their fellow ranching families in this time of need,” the group said.

To donate to the wildfire relief, go to the OCA Stewardship Fund at https://orcattle.com/donate/ and click on “Donation-Stewardship Fund.” Under purpose, click “Fire Assistance Fund.” Funds raised will be given to a wildfire relief fund effort.

“The surviving cattle and ranching families are in desperate need of essentials like hay and fencing,” the OCA said. To make a donation of fencing, material, hay, trucking or time, email OCA Communications Director Robyn Smith at robyn.smith@orcattle.com .

“We are working hard to build a relief effort team and would appreciate any assistance we can get,” the organization said.

“The Oregon Cattlemen’s Association takes serious efforts in helping not only their own members, but also our fellow ranchers across the country in times of crisis. Please consider donating to the Oregon Cattlemen’s Stewardship Fund for the Wildfire Assistance fundraising efforts,” said Jerome Rosa, executive director of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association.

Oregon wildlife officials have confirmed wolves killed another calf July 22 in the Harl Butte area of Wallowa County, where repeated attacks on cattle in 2016 and 2017 to several “lethal take” permits for the offending pack.

The latest incident happened on a public grazing allotment within the area of known wolf activity for the Harl Butte pack. A rancher reportedly saw two wolves in the vicinity before finding a dead, partially eaten calf.

Ranchers’ struggles with the Harl Butte pack date back several years. Wolves preyed on cattle six times between July 15, 2016 and July 22, 2017, prompting the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife to kill two wolves in August 2017 to prevent future attacks.

Just one week later, the pack notched another depredation, leading to a second kill order by ODFW for another two wolves. The Oregon Cattlemen’s Association had argued for killing the entire pack, while environmental groups decried killing any wolves, favoring stronger requirements for non-lethal deterrents.

By the end of 2017, the Harl Butte pack had four animals left and was not counted as a breeding pair, according to the state’s population estimate. There are a minimum of 124 wolves across the state, and the species remains federally endangered in western Oregon.

Derek Broman, state carnivore biologist for ODFW, said it is not clear whether those wolves disbanded and joined with other neighboring packs, such as the Pine Creek, which also had three wolves culled by ODFW earlier this year after a string of livestock attacks.

Broman said the department has not received any new requests for lethal control.

Shooting wolves remains a contentious point in the state’s wolf conservation and management plan, which is now undergoing an update. ODFW recently hired a professional mediator, Debra Nudelman of Portland, to try to help resolve lingering disagreements.

Broman said those meetings are still being scheduled.

Klamath Project irrigators are breathing a sigh of relief after a federal judge in San Francisco denied a preliminary injunction to hold more water in Upper Klamath Lake for endangered sucker fish.

The injunction was requested by the Klamath Tribes as part of a lawsuit against the Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service to protect declining populations of Lost River and shortnose suckers in the lake.

Judge William Orrick also granted a motion to transfer the case to the U.S. District Court in Oregon. Though he presided over a separate lawsuit filed by the Hoopa Valley and Yurok tribes of northern California seeking to protect salmon in the lower Klamath River, Orrick noted that Upper Klamath Lake, the endangered suckers and the Klamath Tribes are all in Oregon.

“Whether venue is proper in the Northern District of California is not obvious, but the District of Oregon is clearly more appropriate to hear this case,” Orrick wrote in the order, filed Wednesday.

As for the preliminary injunction, Orrick described it as an “extraordinary remedy” given the situation, while adding the scientific evidence is “very much in dispute.”

“I cannot conclude that the Klamath Tribes are likely to prevail on the merits nor that the sucker fish are suffering irreparable injury as a result of the lake elevation levels,” Orrick wrote.

Both the Lost River and shortnose suckers were listed as endangered in 1988. The fish are a culturally significant food for the tribes, though harvest diminished from more than 10,000 suckers in 1968 to just 687 in 1985.

According to the tribes’ lawsuit, the cause stems from increased agricultural activity since the inception of the Klamath Project, which provides surface water irrigation for 230,000 acres in southern Oregon and northern California.

Today, the tribes harvest just two suckers every year for ceremonial purposes.

Don Gentry, chairman of the Klamath Tribes, said they were disappointed in Orrick’s decision, but they will be ready to present their arguments before a new judge and do what is necessary to protect the fish.

“We’re really concerned about the fish this year and into the future,” Gentry said. “Hopefully we won’t have a significant die-off this season, but we’ll see.”

The Klamath Water Users Association, which advocates for farmers and ranchers in the basin, have also intervened in the tribes’ lawsuit, along with the Sunnyside Irrigation District and California farmer Ben DuVal.

Scott White, KWUA executive director, said the injunction — which would have kept more water in Upper Klamath Lake, and less water in the Klamath Project’s irrigation canals — would have been catastrophic to the region’s agriculture.

“Millions of dollars are already invested in the dirt, and all that could have been lost,” White said. “I’m just so thrilled for my guys knowing they’re going to be able to finish this season out.”

Irrigators were already off to a late start this season in the Klamath Project, after a ruling last year by Orrick in the Hoopa Valley and Yurok tribal lawsuit that required more water to be sent down the Klamath River to flush away a deadly parasite infecting coho salmon.

White said he knows fish are important to the tribes, just as irrigation is important to the agricultural community, but he believes the problem needs to be addressed locally, not in the courts.

“We may not see eye-to-eye on how to solve these issues relative to the fish, but until we sit down to talk about that, we’re not going to get anywhere,” he said.

Gentry said the tribes are working toward revising a five-year-old federal plan for sustaining healthy sucker populations — known as the biological opinion — but the fish are in an increasingly dire position.

“We want to protect all of the fish for as long as we can until we can make some significant progress,” Gentry said.

PRESCOTT, Wash. — Soft white wheat prices are stagnant around the $6 per bushel range, farmer Jim Kent said.

Six dollars per bushel “sounds good, but you take everything out of it and your expenses haven’t gone down,” Kent said. “Everything’s still fairly high.”

A Washington Association of Wheat Growers board member, Kent estimated he’s halfway through his wheat harvest. on 4,500 acres south of Prescott, Wash.

Test weights are up and yields are easily about 10 bushels per acre above Kent’s average, typically about 80 bushels per acre.

Soft white wheat ranges on the Portland market from $5.80 per bushel to $5.90 per bushel. Hard red winter wheat ranges from $6.21 per bushel to $7.01 per bushel, depending on protein. Dark northern spring ranges from $6.42 per bushel to $7.30 per bushel.

Farm marketings are behind normal, which implies a lot of selling in the future, said Dan Steiner, grain merchandiser for Morrow County Grain Growers.

But President Donald Trump’s announcement of $12 billion in farmer aid throws marketing “out the window,” he said. Normally, Steiner would expect catch-up sales at harvest time when marketing is behind normal, causing temporary dips in price as the market softens.

Typically, about 40 percent of the Pacific Northwest wheat crop is sold by the end of September, depending on the crop size and price.

Trump’s announcement appears to be helping the market, Steiner said.

“We don’t even know the details of it yet,” he said of Trump’s farmer aid. “In that process of aiding the farmers, it will probably keep grain off the market ... However that works out per farmer, that may heal them up and give them enough money that they can be patient and wait for the cash market to develop more.”

World production is getting smaller, with estimates from the European Union reduced to 130 million metric tons, down 8.5 percent from 142 million metric tons last year. Central and Northern Russia had too much rain, affecting quality, Steiner said, Other problems include dry conditions in Australia and lower dark northern spring wheat yields in the U.S. so far on the Wheat Quality Council tour, he said.

Steiner said prices appear stronger overall, and advised U.S. farmers to take advantage when possible.

“The reality is, as wheat prices go up, we are not seeing any increased sales,” he said. “We are not seeing stronger demand. That may happen, and if it does happen, it will most likely be mid- to late winter or early spring. It’s not going to happen right away.”

Russia and the Black Sea region will still get the majority of demand, Steiner said. Until they have generated the cash they need, the U.S. won’t earn any additional export sales, he said.

If U.S. wheat sales don’t improve by next February to April, Steiner said, that could mean a lot of pressure on the cash market.

Farmers can take advantage of rallies and sell at prices they think they can live with, Steiner said.

“Soon as we can get through harvest and bin doors get shut, I’m certainly thinking we’re going to see higher prices throughout the course of the winter.”

Kent, the Prescott area farmer, would like to see soft white wheat prices closer to $6.50 per bushel.

“I see that happening, I just don’t know if it’s going to happen in August or if we’re going to have to wait until after the first of the year,” he said.

The Steam Weeder looks like an old-time vacuum cleaner and sounds like an espresso machine, with a long hose and nozzle attached to a tractor-mounted boiler heating steam to 250 degrees.

Erik Augerson, a graduate research assistant for Oregon State University, demonstrated how the technology works July 18 during Blueberry Field Day at the North Willamette Research and Extension Center, steaming along rows of blueberries to control field bindweed.

As a weed management tool, Augerson said the Steam Weeder shows promise, especially for organic growers. Superheated steam kills weeds by bursting plant cells, without damaging mulch or other farm infrastructure, as flame weeding does.

Augerson, who is earning his master’s degree from OSU in horticulture, is part of a research project trying to develop a season-long organic weed management program for small berry growers, combining steam with other mechanical treatments and certified organic sprays.

“The organic berry industry in Oregon is having a lot of trouble determining what the best and most cost-effective form of weed management is for their systems,” Augerson told the Capital Press. “We’re just trying to increase the growers’ toolbox.”

The project is supported by a $500,000 grant from the Organic Transitions Program through the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Additional funding comes from the OSU Agriculture Research Foundation and Northwest Center for Small Fruits Research.

The Steam Weeder is manufactured by Weedtechnics, a company based near Sydney, Australia. Jeremy Winer, managing director of Weedtechnics, was also on hand at the field day to meet with growers and answer questions about the product, which sprays at a rate of 2.5 gallons per minute and penetrates 1 inch deep into the ground.

“It’s not actually boiling, but it’s superheated,” Winer explained. “It explodes the (weed) cells.”

Augerson said OSU purchased the Steam Weeder over the winter and began field trials about a month and a half ago. While they are still collecting data, he said the technology could be a solid option for organic growers — depending on the cost analysis.

“We know that it can kill weeds, and that it works from a management standpoint,” Augerson said. “I think it has a lot of promise.

Depending on the size and model, Steam Weeders can cost between $16,000 and $30,000, a steep price tag for small growers. But Augerson said the value lies in decreased need for manual labor controlling weeds, allowing farms to put their workers to better use.

“There is a lack of farm labor, and it is decreasing,” Augerson said. “We want to make it so farmers can utilize their labor in different ways.”

Augerson said they will need at least two years of data before they can start writing a comprehensive, full-season weed management program for organic berries.

Most of the mint oil in the U.S. is produced in the West, and some parts of the region are still increasing production.

“I think Idaho is going to increase its production in the next three to 5 years,” Roger Batt, executive director of the Idaho Mint Commission, said.

From 2007 to 2012, Idaho increased mint harvest by a little over 4,000 acres. In the same time, Oregon saw a nearly 6,000-acre increase in mint harvests for oil.

Washington state, however, has seen a decrease in acreage, and Ken Christensen, a mint grower and chairman of the Far West Mint Marketing Order, said he doesn’t see it increasing.

Christensen said production will most likely begin moving to other states because of the aging demographic of farmers and less demand for spearmint, a popular crop in Washington, versus peppermint.

In 2012, the USDA Census of Agriculture reported that 96,129 acres of mint were harvested for oil. Of that total, Washington, Oregon, Idaho and California produced approximately 77.5 percent.

Producing mint oil takes special know-how, Christensen said.

“It’s not like everyone knows how to grow it,” Christensen said. “You have either been in it for generations or you have a neighbor that helps you.”

Idaho ranks number three in the nation for peppermint production, with 16,000 acres. The state also grows a much smaller percentage of spearmint, only about 1,000 acres, according to Batt.

“Ninety percent of all mint oil goes into gum, toothpaste and candy,” Batt said. The other 10 percent is used for medicinal purposes.

Mint can also be used for tea leaves.

The demand for oil depends on the type of mint.

Peppermint oil is in higher demand than spearmint, Batt said, because peppermint has menthol in it. Also, spearmint has a marketing order attached to it, he said. Basically, there is a limit to how much spearmint can be produced to prevent flooding the market. The system works based on a lottery to decide who is able to grow spearmint, he said.

“Mint is a product that can be stored for a for a long time,” Christensen said, but that can be a problem as well. If there isn’t enough demand the stocks get really high and drive the price down, which is part of the reason spearmint oil production is regulated.

Mint oil, no matter the kind, requires expensive equipment to produce.

Farmers cut the mint and leave it in windrows for several days to dry, Batt explained. Then, the mint is chopped into small pieces with a silage chopper before it is placed into large sealable mint tubs.

The tubs are then hauled to a mint still, where they are hooked to a steam hose, Batt said. Steam is pumped into the bottom of the bin to release the oil in the mint and turn it into vapor. The vapor is then taken and allowed to cool and turn into liquid. The oil separates to the top of the water and is separated.

Mint stills alone cost around $1 million, according Christensen, who mentioned that propane costs to run the still can also be high.

“It is kind of like beer. You have a three-tiered system,” Batt said, explaining how the sales system for mint oil works.

He said producers often contract with a mint dealer, usually for 2-3 years. The dealer then sells the oil to companies such as Colgate or Wrigley’s.

Prices are currently in the upper teens for a pound of mint oil, according to Batt and Christensen. However, Christensen said that the Scotch variety of spearmint in slightly lower, about $14 per pound.

SPRINGFIELD, Ore. (AP) — Oregon police say they shot a cougar that was seen inside a fenced backyard stalking children while they were playing in a swimming pool.

Springfield police Lt. Scott McKee says they used a dog to track the cougar.

The dog chased the cougar up two trees where it was shot and killed.

Police say they decided to put down the 2-year-old, 70-pound cougar after the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife concluded that it was the only safe option.

Springfield police believe it was the same cat that was sighted on Sunday.

The animal’s body was taken to the fish and wildlife department for a necropsy, or autopsy for animals, to determine if it was in the area because it was sick or in search of prey.

A spring surge in imported red raspberries has soured the economics of the summer harvest, according to Washington growers.

Woodland farmer George Thoeny said he sells fresh raspberries at a profit at farmers’ markets and a roadside stand, but that he may lose money on fruit he sells for processing.

“The price has been a disaster, an all-time low,” he said. “The imports have just killed this industry.”

Farmers in the three red raspberry-growing states — Washington, California and Oregon — compete against an increasing volume of foreign fruit. The main competitor, Mexico, more than doubled exports to the U.S. between 2014 and 2017, according to the USDA Economic Research Service.

So far this year, imports from Serbia and Chile have also significantly increased. In April and May alone, 15.5 million pounds of frozen red raspberries came into the U.S. compared to 7.9 million pounds the year before.

The size and timing of the influx left Washington growers in some cases without buyers, particularly for berries that were to be sold for juice, Washington Red Raspberry Commission Executive Director Henry Bierlink said.

“That kind of sent the message to everybody, they can get product without paying much for it,” he said.

The raspberry commission suspects growers are being undercut by foreign fruit being dumped on the U.S. market at below the cost of production. Gathering evidence has been complicated by the way imports are labeled and reported, Bierlink said. The commission retained a Washington, D.C., law firm last year to investigate whether it had a case.

“We asked, and they said, ‘You don’t have much of one. You need better data,’” Bierlink said.

The state commission led successful challenges to Canadian trade practices in the mid-1980s and Chilean trade practices in the early 2000s. Even with better data, pursuing a new claim would be harder now, Bierlink said.

California has become a major red raspberry state, and many producers there also grow berries in Mexico. “They would have limited interest in suing themselves,” Bierlink said.

Another hurdle would be money. Bierlink estimates pursing a claim would cost $1 million to $2 million. Congress in 2005 repealed the Byrd Amendment, which awarded payments to U.S. companies that filed successful trade complaints. The World Trade Organization had ruled the practice illegal.

Unlike many sectors of the farm economy, trade does not benefit red raspberry growers, said Lynden farmer Jon Maberry, the raspberry commission chairman.

“We understand we don’t have the same position as some of the other ag commodities,” he said. “We would be happy if we could supply the U.S.”

Low-cost Mexican red raspberries that end up as an ingredient in juice or other products pose the biggest long-term threat to the U.S. industry, he said.

The raspberry commission is talking to policymakers about labeling laws to inform consumers that they are buying U.S. berries, Maberry said.

“We don’t want a bail out, we just want things to be fair,” he said. “We think it’s in the best interest of consumers to have the U.S. growing its own food.”

A cross between two hop plants made 18 years ago will likely debut this October as “Triumph,” a new public variety resulting from the cooperative breeding efforts of USDA and Northwest growers.

Unlike cultivars owned by private companies, Triumph can be grown and propagated without paying license fees to the developer, said John Henning, a research geneticist with USDA who developed the variety.

“It’s all publicly handled and that dramatically decreases the cost of production to the grower,” Henning said.

The variety’s name springs from its repeated “triumph” over other cultivars during single-hop brewing trials, as well as Henning’s favorite brand of motorcycle.

Aroma-style hops generally yield about eight to 10 bales per acre, while Triumph has produced 12 or more in field trials, he said.

“We don’t want to overhype it because it’s a small plot,” said Doug Weathers, a hop farmer who tested the variety on 2 acres near Salem, Ore.

Weathers said he appreciates that Triumph is “on the front end of harvest,” which means he can begin using picking and processing machinery before most other hop cultivars are ready.

“It picks really nice and dries really nice,” he said. “It’s fairly non-problematic to grow.”

Agronomic benefits are important but flavor ultimately determines whether a new hop variety will catch on, experts say.

Brewers have described Triumph as having notes of “pink Bazooka bubblegum” and “peach stone fruit,” Weathers said. “That’s the feedback we’re getting from them.”

The hops are well-suited for use in pale ales, amber ales and pilsners, he said. “It’s a little lighter profile.”

New hop varieties typically need a “long runway” to gain popularity, said Pete Venegas, procurement manager at Yakima Chief-Hopunion, a hop supplier.

“You need to be persistent and keep promoting it,” Venegas said.

Becoming a key ingredient in a popular beer can greatly boost demand for a hop variety, particularly for a brew that racks up awards, he said. “It’s really up to the consumer.”

Triumph is tentatively planned for public release in October after undergoing years of greenhouse and field trials, with the final step being the 2-acre plot at Weathers’ farm.

Henning said Triumph is his first new hop variety in about a decade but he’s got two other varieties ready to jump to the final testing stage.

The cultivar is joining a crowded hop market. This spring, the national inventory of hops hit a record 169 million pounds, up 20 percent from the previous year and the highest level in decades.

Stocks of the ingredient have piled up as sales of craft beer haven’t kept pace with projections of red-hot growth, experts say.

Kathy Hadley maneuvers a combine over neat rows of tall fescue that was recently cut at her family’s farm near Rickreall, Ore., in the heart of the Willamette Valley, where farmers grow roughly two-thirds of the cool season grass seed produced in the U.S.

Grass seed harvest began in mid-June, and despite an unusually dry May with almost no significant rainfall, Hadley says yields should be close to average, with a wide range of variability from field to field.

“For us, we’re just kind of at the mercy of Mother Nature,” Hadley says from behind the wheel as dry grass feeds into the combine’s header. “It’s all across the board, from being really poor to really good.”

Seed prices are also a mixed bag, with the price of turf-type tall fescue particularly strong, based on several factors, including short supply and new varieties displacing perennial ryegrass in some markets.

Hadley is harvesting 30 acres of turf-type tall fescue for DLF Pickseed in Halsey, Ore. Companies such as DLF contract with farmers to grow their proprietary varieties.

Following a mild winter and dry spring, Hadley says growers were concerned about lower yields and seed weight heading into this year’s harvest, though they appear to be in good shape so far.

“It’s been going pretty smoothly,” Hadley says. “We’ve had some trucks that weighed really good.”

Growers will receive 9 cents more per pound for tall fescue this year — a price bump of about 11 percent. Mark Simmons, executive director of the Oregon Grass Seed Bargaining Association, says farmers hope to maintain that increase over the next few years.

The association, made up of 150 members, negotiates prices for tall fescue and perennial ryegrass with dealers. Simmons, a former Oregon legislator and state House speaker, says there is already a shortage of turf-type tall fescue, and breeders have developed more robust varieties preferred over perennial ryegrass, prompting greater demand.

“The breeders have developed new dark green, finer leafed varieties of turf-type tall fescue that the market likes,” Simmons says.

Lucas Solis, vice president and general manager of Pure Seed in Canby, Ore., says tall fescue continues to be in high demand, but cautions against overproduction pressuring prices.

“I think there should be a lot of concern about tall fescue,” Solis says. “When you have increased production and a pie that’s only so big ... it’s just the law of economics. Supply goes up, price goes down.”

Oregon grows about 400,000 acres of grass seed, 90 percent of which is in the Willamette Valley. The industry produces approximately 600 million pounds of seed each year, according to the Oregon Seed Council.

While nearly all of western Oregon is experiencing moderate drought, Simmons says high heat did not come until after cutting began, sparing growers a worst-case scenario.

“Luckily we didn’t get any 90- or 100-degree temperatures in May while we weren’t getting any rain,” he said. “If that had materialized, we would probably really be singing the blues during harvest.”

Craig Froerer likes what he sees in his onion fields outside Nyssa, Ore.

“All the stars aligned for a great crop this year,” he said.

The large onion crop of southeastern Oregon and southwestern Idaho looks good as growers head toward harvest. Some early varieties are getting harvest-ready. Fields appear to be in fine shape and noticeably farther along than they were at this point in the slow-starting 2017 season.

“We have had very mild, even temperatures, so it is going to be a great crop,” said Froerer, of Froerer Farms. “We have had great weather all the time, and no really high temperatures,” he said July 20. “The crop is deciding what it is going to do and it is going be a great crop. We are starting to harvest today.”

Some early-to-mature varieties are approaching harvest-readiness, said Oregon State University Malheur County Extension Agent Stuart Reitz, based in Ontario.

Early varieties and transplants — which are planted as small onions and have a head start on the directly seeded crop — typically bypass long-term storage and go directly to customers. This effectively extends the period over which onions can be shipped and gives customers more options.

Onions and onion fields in the area look good in general, Reitz said July 20.

“Last year was a bit of a difficult year with the weather and late planting. But right now, everything across the (Treasure) Valley is looking pretty good,” he said. “Stands look good, and plants have been doing well. It has been hot the last few days, but not excessively.”

Growers this time of year want to see closed-over rows of plants that have uniform height and size. A good-looking stand has the crop uniformly spread across the field, rather than showing an abundance of onions in one area and sparse conditions in another.

“We will see how it all turns out, but now most of the fields are in pretty good shape,” Reitz said.

Idaho Onion Growers Association President Dell Winegar, who farms south of Fruitland, Idaho, said it appears onions are building heft.

“Some of the ones we are going to be doing early are getting some size,” he said. “The overall quality looks good to me.”

Winegar said he expects some thin stands in the area, a result of heavy winds earlier in the year. “That doesn’t go away. There will be some,” he said. “But overall size should be good.”

The season is at least a week to 10 days ahead of year-earlier conditions — so onions will be better-cured when they go into storage, and more will be ideal in size if current conditions hold, he said. Temperatures that get too high for too long can make onions mature too early; tops can fall over, and the onions don’t reach ideal size, he said.

Paul Skeen, president of the Malheur County Onion Growers Association, said he expects “an average good, healthy crop” this year. Excess heat so far has not been an issue, he said.

Skeen, who farms near Nyssa, expects to start harvesting early varieties Aug. 10 or so, he said. The onion crop in the area should be better than last year’s, he said.

“It’s not perfect,” Skeen said, citing some impacts from heavy wind last spring, “but overall it is looking good.”

Drought conditions are spreading in Oregon and Washington, and an El Nino forming in the Pacific Ocean will tilt the odds in favor of more warm and dry months ahead, federal officials reported.

The percentage of Oregon in moderate or severe drought was up to 80 percent from 68 percent from the week before, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Meanwhile, a moderate drought in Washington expanded to 26 percent from 17 percent of the state.

Conditions in Idaho and California were unchanged, with 6 percent of Idaho and 44 percent of California in some degree of drought. The Drought Monitor has four stages of drought, ranging from moderate to exceptional.

Also the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center reported that the odds favor above-average temperatures in the four states during August, September and October.

Looking further ahead, the center puts the chances that an El Nino will form in the Pacific Ocean by November at 70 percent. An El Nino, a warming of equatorial sea-surface temperatures, usually leads to warmer and drier winters in the Pacific Northwest.

Forecasts of an El Nino have missed the mark before. A large amount of warm water below the surface makes forecasters slightly more confident this time, according to the center.

Drought conditions in Oregon are most severe east of the Cascades, where 25 percent of the state has fallen into a “severe” drought, the level above “moderate.”

In Washington, the moderate drought conditions are mostly west of the mountains, though drought conditions extend up the Columbia Gorge as far east as Benton County.

River flows in southwest Washington are particularly low, resembling levels during the 2015 drought, according to Ecology. The department last month curtailed the water-rights of 93 irrigators in the Chehalis basin.

East of the Cascades, the water-rights of about 40 irrigators in the Walla Walla basin in southeast Washington have been curtailed.

Ecology on Friday cut off the water-rights of 80 irrigators in the Methow basin in north-central Washington because of low stream and river flows.

The Bureau of Reclamation projected this month that junior water-right holders in the Yakima Valley will receive 100 percent of their water supplies for the irrigation season.

CENTRAL POINT, Ore. (AP) — Firefighters are facing hot, dry and breezy conditions as they work to contain a complex of 13 wildfires burning in southwest Oregon.

Fire officials say more than 1,800 firefighters and 30 aircraft are battling the Garner Complex fire in Jackson and Josephine counties on Sunday. Troops from the National Guard have also arrived to help.

The fire has scorched about 12 square miles and was about 10 percent contained as of Sunday morning.

Fire spokesman Don Hickman says crews are very focused as they work in hot conditions and steep terrain.

Meanwhile, fire officials say they’ve made significant progress containing a deadly wildfire that has burned wheat fields and grasslands near The Dalles.

The Substation blaze has burned more than 123 square miles and was 90 percent contained as of Monday morning.