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Show Farmers gamble crops eye unwieldy weather By DONETA GATHERUM Staff Writer FARMINGTON Farmers are the best gamblers in the world. Each year when they plant a crop, they place a bet that weather conditions will allow that crop to mature. This means a farmer constantly bets against wind, hail, early frosts, late frosts and drought. Each year a harvest is gleaned. Sometimes, the yield is remarkably large and other times, the farmer is left with marginal results. Even though Utah has been in a 5-year drought cycle, cy-cle, local farmers are once again going to gamble that there will be enough rain at the right times and that other weather-related problems will so slight that a profitable harvest will be possible. It will be "planting as usual," whether the crop be alfalfa, grains or row crops. Shawn Olsen, the Davis County agricultural agent, . says he hasn't heard reports of fall grain failures. The limited water usage imposed by the Weber Basins system will probably not adversely affect farmers raising rais-ing grains and alfalfa (at least through a second crop). There might be some negative impact on row crops such as onions, peas and beans that need weekly watering. water-ing. Most of the farmers who raise row crops are serviced by the Davis and Weber County Canal Company. The indications from this source of water is that farmers will be given their usual allotments as long as the water holds out. Toward the end of the irrigation season, the supply might be cut down or stopped off entirely. This means that onion farmers will plant as usual, hoping the water will last through mid-August. Those raising beans might have to settle for one harvest instead in-stead of two. This can be determined in mid-summer when the second planting takes place. A short supply of water impacts home gardeners perhaps more than farmers. Olsen recommends that people who want to plant lawns this year do it as soon as possible to take advantage of the wet spring weather and cooler temperatures. "It takes at least twice as much water to start a lawn planted in summer as it does to start one planted in spring, ' Olsen says. Another water-saving idea Olsen offers is to reduce the lawn area in a yard and plant more trees, shrubs and low water use vegetation. ' ' In some areas of California and Arizona, people are using a xeri scape system of natural vegetation that requires re-quires no watering or limited watering," Olsen stated. ' 'This can be attractive and it is a very low maintenance form of landscaping. ' Another recommendation this agricultural expert gives is to adjust sprinklers to go on the lawns and not on streets and sidewalks. The automatic timers can also be adjusted to make the use of water more efficient |