Agricultural News
Bone Dry Soil Profile to Impact Panhandle for Years
Thu, 03 Nov 2011 05:19:10 CDT
Ron Hays talked with Rick Kochenower, an Oklahoma State University Extension Agronomist in the panhandle, today at the Oklahoma Ag Expo about the soil conditions and crop conditions in the Panhandle region of the state. With this area missing out on a majority of the recent rainfall across Oklahoma, many crops have been struggling. This photo shows just how dry it can be in the panhandle and was taken in Cimarron County on Oct. 6 by Jarrod Stewart.
Cimarron County received about an inch and a half out of the last round of rains says Kochenower. He adds that Beaver county got about 78 hundredths and up to two inches in some places, while Texas county received about 30 to 40 hundredths. In fact Kochenower says he planted some dry-land variety wheat before a small shower, which allowed the crop to emerge, but it hasn't moved at all since then.
With only seven to eight inches of soil moisture before planting, there wasn't much of a profile below the crop and Kochenower says they need more to start rebuilding this soil profile.
As producers begin looking forward to the 2012 crop season, Kochenower believes there will be a lot more cotton and grain sorghum in the Panhandle are next year. Cotton is more attractive because of the price and water usage, while grain sorghum is attractive because of the irrigation amounts required, especially in the lower volume wells.
Click on the LISTEN bar below to hear the rest of Ron and Rick Kochenower's conversation on the status of crops and soil moisture in the Oklahoma Panhandle.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI
Top Agricultural News
More Headlines...
