求助几个句子的翻译，没太看懂。

cassie1214UID: 3333863

For a number of years the selection of music for each film program rested entirely in the hands of the conductor or leader of the orchestra, and very often the principal qualifications for holding such a position was not skill or taste so much as the ownership of a large personal library of musical pieces.
这里的so much as是什么意思呢 ？


For good measure, during the spring and summer drought, heat, hail, grasshoppers, and   other frustrations might await the weary growers.
await the weary growers 是什么意思啊

black_marbleUID: 3257768

下面一个是“等待着疲惫的庄稼人”

秋雨荆州UID: 2903781

so much as是甚至，几乎的意思，第二个我跟楼上看法一样