YAKIMA — Extreme weather conditions, a marketplace collision with a late California crop, and an oversupply of their own fresh crop made this a tough season for Washington asparagus growers.

Growers saw high prices early in the season in late April at $40 per 28-pound box. But cool weather slowed how much growers could harvest to meet demand, said Alan Schreiber, executive director of the Washington Asparagus Commission.

The weather then took a drastic turn last month when the Yakima Valley experienced unseasonably hot temperatures in the 90s, increasing the supply.

"We went from having too little supply to meet demand to having too much," Schreiber said.

At the same time, a large supply of California asparagus entered the market late because of weather conditions there.

California's asparagus season usually finishes a month before Washington's, which keeps the two crops from having to compete in the marketplace. But 30 straight days of rain delayed California's crop, said Cherie Watte, executive director of the California Asparagus Commission.

Washington also had to contend with more fresh asparagus on the market after the closure of the last asparagus-processing plant in the state.

The state is the nation's No. 2 producer of asparagus behind California, harvesting about 40 percent of the U.S. crop. It had a record-high 32,000 acres producing asparagus in 1991, the same year a federal law exempted certain agricultural imports from tariffs, including asparagus.

The Andean Trade Preference Act was intended to help such countries as Peru combat drug trafficking. The law was a boon to Peru's asparagus industry, but it devastated state growers.

Just 12,500 acres of asparagus remained in Washington state in 2005. Without a cannery to process asparagus, 90 percent of the state's crop was sold fresh this year, compared with 60 percent a year earlier.

After the bright early start, the combination of problems caused prices to drop to as low as $10 per 28-pound box.

"Buyers know instantly when there's an overproduction situation," said Kevin Bouchey, owner of SKD Farms in Toppenish. "It's human nature. They're not going to pay any more for the product then they have to."

Prices have climbed to about $34 per box with California's harvest now over, but many Washington growers already have stopped harvesting.

With the difficult asparagus season behind him, Schreiber has started work on marketing asparagus next year.

"For marketing to work, you have to have a sustained effort over time," Schreiber said. "We're just getting started."

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