Weather Has Been ‘Dismal’ but Oklahoma’s Wheat Crop is Not Done For

• Joe Wertz
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Joe Wertz was a reporter and managing editor for StateImpact Oklahoma from 2011-2019. He reported on energy and environment issues for national NPR audiences and other national outlets. He previously worked as a managing editor, assistant editor and staff reporter at several major Oklahoma newspapers and studied journalism at the University of Central Oklahoma.

Ben Allen / KOSU Radio

Workers thresh wheat in Oklahoma.

Drought, hail, high winds and rain timing has hit Oklahoma’s No. 1 cash crop hard. But while the Oklahoma Grain and Feed Association’s recent assessment of Oklahoma’s wheat crop was “dismal,” all hope isn’t lost.

Individual farms have suffered losses, but high yields might help the overall picture, reports The Journal Record’s Brian Brus, who interviewed OSU grain marketing specialist Kim Anderson:

“I think hot and dry would have been worse than what we’ve got right now,” Anderson said. “As an ivory tower economist rather than a soil scientist, I don’t think we have a problem. … As long as we don’t get more flooding.”

Anderson took a deeper look at the Grain and Feed Association’s estimate, which predicted 85 million bushels of wheat, and the USDA’s forecast of 114 million bushels.

Those numbers still depend on how quickly farmers can bring in their crops. Harvest across the state got off to a late start because the fields are too wet, Oklahoma Wheat Commission Executive Director Mike Schulte said. He’s expecting 45 to 55 bushels per acre from regions with water and 10 to 20 bushels from wheat varieties in dry areas.