Agricultural News
A Key Lesson from the 2011 Wheat Crop- Grazing Cattle Costs in Fewer Bushels of Grain Harvested
Wed, 24 Aug 2011 05:20:55 CDT
The Oklahoma Wheat Industry came together on Tuesday at historic Fort Reno and met in the Chapel to review the 2011 wheat crop- and discuss what the prospects are for the 2012 growing season. With the dry conditions gripping much of the Oklahoma wheat belt, several of those in attendance joked perhaps the industry needed to take advantage of being in the Chapel and have a prayer meeting, making a plea for widespread and substantial amounts of rain.
One of those that summarized his observations of the 2011 crop at the Review was Dr. Jeff Edwards, state extension small grains specialist. Dr. Edwards says that 2011 reinforced the lesson we have been learning in recent years- that it is extremely important to conserve every drop of moisture that you can to have available for the crop to make a grain harvest. Edwards says that issue was very evident in the 2011 crop in fields that were grazed in the fall and early winter, then the cattle were pulled off and the farmer tried to make a grain yield. In many of those fields, the yield was substantially reduced and in many cases in west central and southwestern Oklahoma- those fields ended up being zeroed out for grain production. Edwards says that we have always known there is a cost to grazing wheat in terms of how many bushels you can harvest for grain- 2011 oiften spotlighted that difference dramatically.
In our conversation with Dr. Edwards, we also talked about what wheat producers need to be thinking about as we prepare to plant the 2012 crop- and he mentioned several "keys" as the grain drills are pulled out to the fields. First and foremost, don't try to plant too soon. Secondly, consider your variety and whether it can handle hot soil temperatures- especially if you are trying to plant early for wheat pasture- many varieties don't handle the extremely hot temps when it comes to germination. Third- you can "dust" your crop in if rain does not show up- and wait on using high priced inputs until you see if the crop has a chance of getting established with adequate rainfall.
Click on the LISTEN BAR below to hear our full conversation with the OSU State Wheat Specialist- we also talk about varieties- Edwards sings the praises of several recent OSU introduced lines that he contends are second to none.
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