UMAPINE, Ore. — What a difference a year has made for the Pacific Northwest’s dryland wheat growers.

The drought of 2021 caused near crop-failure conditions in some wheat-growing areas of the Pacific Northwest. Don Wysocki, extension soil scientist for Oregon State University in Pendleton, said last year’s crop was 60% or less than usual in some areas.

But 2022 has a bumper crop.

“This year is well above average in most areas, and the quality is really good,” he said. “Last year it was low, with grain shriveled by drought.”

Harvest should last a week to 10 days later than usual, Wysocki said, thanks to the record-breaking spring rains and two recent thunderstorms. The Basin Agricultural Research Center near Adams received eight-tenths of an inch of rain from the storm on Aug. 11

Wheat harvest should wrap up by the end of August in Umatilla County, he added.

“It’s already over in the drier areas,” Wysocki noted. “Conservatively, yield should be 20% above average. In some areas, 30% to 40% higher. Some growers say they cut the best yield they’ve ever had. And the price is better than last year as well.”

All wheat planted in Oregon in 2021 totaled 720,000 acres, down 3% from the previous year, the National Agricultural Statistics Service reported in January. The harvested area, at 705,000 acres, was also down 3% from 2020. Production totaled 31.7 million bushels, down 32%. Yield was estimated at 45 bushels per acre, down 19 bushels from 2020.

All wheat production in Idaho totaled 76.5 million bushels, down 32% from the previous year as well. Yield fell an estimated 29.1 bushels from 2020.

In Washington, production totaled 87.2 million bushels, down a whopping 48% from 2020. Yield plummeted a shocking 33.3 bushels from the previous year.

“We had a good crop,” Umapine rancher Tim Leber said, “thanks to the rains.”

No. 1 soft white wheat was unchanged at Portland on Aug. 19, averaging $8.64 per bushel for current delivery, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A year before, the price was $10.29.

National average wheat reached $11.78 in May, up from $4.81 in June 2020.

But costs have risen as well. Diesel fuel averaged $5.06 per gallon in Pendleton on Aug. 19, down from $6.29 on July 3, but still up from $3.57 a year earlier.

U.S. white wheat production was projected at 289 million bushels, up 3 million from the July estimate and 44% higher than last year’s drought-stricken crop, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wheat Outlook reported on Aug. 16.

Production for soft white winter, soft white spring and hard white spring were all improved from a year ago based on conditions in Washington, Idaho and Oregon. The comparison would have been even more stark, but hard white winter production was lower than in 2020, with most of the loss in drought-affected regions, mainly in Kansas and Colorado.