3.2 million N.D. acres idled
                 By Mikkel Pates
                 The Forum - 06/25/1999

                 A stunning 3.2 million crop acres in North Dakota were not planted
                 this year due to rain delays.

                 That estimate is three times the level that was not planted last year
                 - 16 percent of the total cropland acres in the state.

                 To compare, it's almost the same number of acres idled in the
                 Conservation Reserve Program.

                 Most of the unplanted land is in north-central counties, according to
                 the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency.

                 Unplanted acres in eight counties ranged from 31 percent in Burke
                 County to 77 percent in Bottineau County, according to
                 county-based federal agriculture officials.

                 Corresponding Minnesota figures are being collected but won't be
                 available for another two weeks.

                 Gene Erpelding, general manager of the Bottineau Farmers Elevator,
                 said that with only one in five intended acres planted in his county,
                 he's had to lay off three of his 17 workers.

                 "We've lost a chunk of business on the crop input (fertilizer,
                 chemical) side and we know the grain business is just as severely
                 affected," Erpelding said. "It's a given that we're not going to have
                 the business: there's no business to behad ."

                 Planting efforts have mostly stopped in Bottineau County. On
                 Thursday farmers were spraying Roundup herbicide to knock down
                 quackgrass, Canada thistle and other weeds while they waited to
                 plant, Erpelding said.

                 Erpelding said many farmers have had to lay off hired men. "A lot of
                 people are going to have to pack up and leave town, because
                 there's not going to be any work."

                 Scott Stofferahn, executive director for the U.S. Department of
                 Agriculture's Farm Service Agency in North Dakota, said farmers with
                 cattle can plant a forage crop on prevented planting acres and not
                 lose any insurance payments.

                 Andy Swenson, a North Dakota State University agricultural
                 economist, said agricultural suppliers and elevators will be hit hard,
                 but the impact on farmers will be a mixed bag.

                 "With the commodity prices so low, some producers will come out
                 better by taking prevented planting crop insurance than if they'd
                 gotten a crop," Swenson said. "Overall, I don't think it'll be a
                 negative to the farm income. If anything, I would lean toward it
                 being a net positive."

                 Doug Hagel, regional director for the USDA's Risk Management
                 Agency in Billings, Mont., said a large percentage of North Dakota
                 farmers "bought up," or increased, their policies from 65 percent
                 coverage to 75 percent coverage this year.

                 Because of last year's disaster, Congress allowed them an additional
                 30 percent discount on insurance premiums.

                 In 1999 the agency had 126,234 "buy-up" policies in the state, a 6
                 percent increase from last year. Those taking the minimum
                 catastrophic coverage declined by 19 percent to 20,947 policies.

                 Among those were farmers shifting to a new Crop Revenue Coverage
                 policy that costs more but protects against low market prices in
                 addition to low yields.

                 North Dakota farmers bought 12,400 "revenue" wheat policies in
                 1999 compared with 2,500 in 1998.

                 "That's a very substantial increase," Hagel said. "With the discount,
                 they could afford it. I would say they'll have a little better coverage
                 under most of the revenue plans, mostly because of the (low)
                 market price."

                 Stofferahn said farmers who were prevented from planting specialty
                 crops such as mustard, buckwheat and field peas should file a report
                 with his agency. The reports could make them eligible for disaster
                 aid or other programs that haven't yet been passed by Congress.

                 May rainfall was heavy across North Dakota, ranging from 3 to more
                 than 10 inches, or from 100 to nearly 500 percent of normal, said
                 John Enz, NDSU agricultural climatologist.

                 The wet conditions actually started last year.

                 Total precipitation amounts for May and June and the May-June
                 total for 1998 were unprecedented, the greatest on record at many
                 locations, Enz said. Another 4 to 6 inches fell last August and many
                 locations recorded record amounts of 8 to 9 inches. Then there was
                 widespread rain in October.

                 Fields dried out this April, but then were soaked with 3 to 10 inches
                 of rain in May.

                 Most of the state received more than twice the normal May rain,
                 with the most in the central third of the state, many of the same
                 areas were hit hardest in 1998.

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