Agricultural News
Remaining Wheat Crop Potential Hit Hard by Triple Digit Temperatures of This Past Weekend
Wed, 11 May 2011 9:52:56 CDT
The first predictions by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on the size of the 2011 winter wheat crop may well be as good as it gets this season, based on unfavorable weather since the data was gathered on or around the first of May. The Executive Director of Plains Grains, Inc, Mark Hodges, is very concerned about the several days of extremely high temperatures, low humidities, strong southerly winds which combined to suck out a significant portion of the potential of the 2011 southern plains wheat crop that USDA and crop scouts that reported last week assumed could be realized.
The 2011 Winter Wheat Crop Estimate shows Oklahoma's wheat crop slightly higher than the Crop Report Conclusions of last Wednesday. USDA predicts an Oklahoma crop at 74.8 million bushels, based on 3.4 million acres harvested at 22 bushels per acre. The Kansas estimate was just under the Kansas estimate made by the scouts of last week- the USDA estimate at 261.8 million bushels while the Texas crop is well under earlier guesses we had heard for that state at just 46.8 million bushels now predicted- ALL BASED on May first data.
Hodges tells us that both dryland and irrigated wheat were damaged by the "heat event" of last weekend. He believes that the likely crop output of Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas may well be lower than the May first predictions offered by the USDA report- click here to see the numbers as released by USDA on Wednesday morning.
Click on the LISTEN BAR below to hear our conversation with Mark Hodges on his concerns about the 2011 wheat crop across the southern great plains.
Our picture is of wheat that was virtually zeroed out by a Crop Insurance adjuster being baled for hay in the Weatherford area this week.
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