The year began with most growers in a serious financial squeeze because of back-to-back poor crops and prices that have declined over 20 percent in the last couple of years. Survival depended on good yields, a miraculous rally in the market, and/or significant government intervention. In the end, production was poor, quality was poor, prices declined further, and government programs helped some.

The 1998-99 winter and early spring months were generally dry, and thus we entered the production cycle with limited subsoil moisture. Because of poor conditions in the seed-production regions of Arizona and Texas in 1998, seed supply and quality were limited. Shortages of certain proven cultivars and the increasing demand for transgenic technology resulted in significant commitment to varieties with little performance history in the state. Predictably, stand problems occurred with certain varieties due to marginal seed vigor.