Oregon Public Broadcasting

Monday is the final deadline for farmers in the northwest to buy crop insurance for most seeds they’re planting this spring. 

This year they may need that insurance. Several parts of Oregon and Washington may face a drought by summer.

In southern Oregon, water levels in Klamath Lake have dropped to a 30-year low, threatening already hard-hit farmers there.  Amelia Templeton reports.

Farmers in the Klamath basin signed an historic agreement last month that will help balance their needs for irrigated water with the needs of Indian tribes and endangered fish.  But Senator Jeff Merkley is worried about an immediate problem with Klamath Lake.

Jeff Merkley: “I’ve been carrying around in my pocket a chart a chart of the lake levels showing how low the lake is below the worst recorded level since levels were started to be recorded in the mid 1970s”

That looming drought in the Klamath basin is exactly the situation the agreement is meant to address. But it hasn’t been approved by congress yet.

So uncertainty over this year’s water supply has farmers in the basin wondering whether to even bother planting potatoes this spring.

Greg Addington is the Executive Director of the Klamath Water Users Association.

Greg Addington: "We sit here today and we don’t know if there will be any water available, if there’s some how much it will be and when it will be available."

When water levels in the lake and river are low, like this year, the federal government shuts off irrigation, to protect endangered salmon and sucker fish.

All of the crops grown in the basin need some irrigated water to make it through the summer. And fragile crops like potatoes need a lot.

William Riggs is a Professor at the OSU extension center. He says some farmers will chose not to plant anything this year.

William Riggs: “They’re looking at all aspects. Planting less, changing crops, not growing anything. Leasing land in other counties where they might be able to grow."

Jerry Griffith is with the Farm Service Agency. That’s a branch of the federal Department of Agriculture that helps farmers during a disaster. He says there’s one thing all farmers in the Klamath should be doing.

Jerry Griffith: “Please go out and buy at least the catastrophic level of insurance. It has a minimal fee amount."

The deadline for signing up for basic federal crop insurance is on Monday.

About 84 percent of potato fields in Klamath County were insured last year. And about 50 percent of barley, but less than 10 percent of alfalfa.

Addington says that insurance payments can’t really compensate for the loss of irrigation.

Greg Addington: "The payoff on the crop insurance is going to cover some of your operating expenses, you know, putting that crop in. But it's not necessarily paying the mortgage, buying groceries for the family."

And there’s another problem. Farmers who are buying insurance for the first time, knowing about the looming drought, could be out of luck.

Griffith of the Farm Service Agency explains.

Jerry Griffith: “if they purchase it for the first time this year and they didn’t have it last year, they won’t have preventive planting coverage, if there’s just not enough water that they can’t even plant the crop.”

But Griffith says farmers should sign up for the insurance anyway. Because only farmers with at least basic insurance will be eligible for federal drought assistance.