Farmers in the Magic Valley say they are suffering an unprecedented loss of crops.

One of the big staples in that area, barley, was wiped out by late summer rains. Now, county officials are asking the state for help.

The 160 acres of barley here in this field south of Twin Falls was harvested last month, but the crop was ruined.

"This caught everyone by surprise, no one expected this," said farmer Bill Bitzenburg.

Clutching one of the pieces of barley that has cost so many, so much, Bitzenburg explains how five inches of rain right before harvest ruined one of his best sellers.

"That's how it should be, but without the rut hairs," he said.

He says the wet warm weather caused the barley to sprout, making it unusable to be used as malt for breweries.

"It was terrible, the timing couldn't have been worse," Bitzenburg said.

The barley that Bitzenburg had hoped to sell to Coors at $13 per hundred pounds was rejected. And instead he had to sell it as cattle feed for less than half that price.

"I think it's going to cost us well over a hundred thousand dollars, it's a hit," he said.

And he's not alone. Twin Falls County says around 500 farmers lost barley because of all the rain.

"We're kind of sitting here going 'wow it could be 12, 20 million (dollars),' to a smaller area like this that's a huge economic loss," said Farm Service Agency County Director Lance Phillips.

Which is why they filed for a disaster declaration, hoping the state will approve emergency loans for the farmers who need it.

As for Bitzenburg, he says he'll be OK, but now because so many in the area are trying to get rid of low quality barley, the price keeps dropping as he hopes for better weather next year.

"We were taking a hit before and now it just got even worse, when you think it can't get worse it does, so it's just bad," Bitzenburg said.

As for the disaster declaration, Twin Falls hopes it will be approved in the next 60 to 90 days.

Source - http://www.ktvb.com/