Pre-season message from the Guide to Chodosh

[Y. Herman]

Now that pesach is just over, probably the last thing you want to know 
about is the next Chodosh season. So please forgive me for a brief report.

One of the things we want to know is how much of the new crop was planted 
at least 3 days (or according to others 2 weeks) before pesach. Such crop 
would be fully Yoshon. I am afraid that such planting will not  help us 
much this year. According to the US Department of Agriculture, as of Mar. 
31 (3 days before pesach) only 1% of the spring wheat, 2% of the barley and 
4% of the oats were planted. Therefore, you can enter the summer 
Chodosh-free season secure in the knowledge that after the summer we will 
have more or less the same Chodosh problems as in the past.

Kol Tuv

Yoseph Herman