Wild weather affects harvest

Wild and wooly weather has been keeping farmers and everyone else off balance this summer. Some summers, most of them actually, mean high temperatures of 90 degrees or more every day and absolutely no rain until September (okay, maybe one mid-summer thunderstorm). But the weather pattern has been very different this year, and many farmers are nervous.

Rains in early June can mean an extra good wheat crop, with full kernels of good quality. But it can often also mean having to spray additional fungicide on wheat stands to prevent stripe rust or some other fungal agent. Rains in July can certain...