Agricultural News
With Each Passing Day- Dr. Jeff Edwards Believes 2013 Wheat Crop Quickly is Going Backwards
Thu, 20 Dec 2012 11:20:02 CST
We have conducted a year end interview with Oklahoma State University Extension Small Grains Extension Specialist Dr. Jeff Edwards as we have discussed both the 2012 wheat crop, as well as the 2013 crop that has been planted in the fall of 2012.
The 2012 wheat crop is feeling more and more like an exceptional, bumper crop for Oklahoma producers, as the final harvest total of 154.8 million bushels was more than double the size of the drought stricken 2011 crop which tallied 70,200,000 bushels. Unfortunately, the 2013 crop is shaping up to be far closer to the size of the 2011 crop rather than the more recent 2012 harvest total.
Dr. Edwards tells us that we have not had a growing season like this fall's weather in a half century- as he says perhaps as much as thirty percent of the crop planted has never gotten up to a stand that will allow it the chance to survive the winter.
East of Interstate 35 and in select pockets west of the Interstate- we do have wheat that still looks relatively good. Producers who are in that situation may want to top dress to at least some degree those fields with fertilizer in the next sixty days- and in a year where moisture has been so unpredictable, Edwards suggests that you apply your fertilizer(or at least some of it) earlier in that time frame rather than later- so you can take care of any liquid or frozen moisture that shows up on your farm's doorstep.
For producers who have wheat that has gone backwards or has never really gotten established- Edwards suggest holding off on inputs for at least the time being to see if you receive any rainfall that could help salvage the crop at some level. He also suggests having a conversation with your crop insurance agent and follow their directions on making sure all correct agronomic practices are documented that may be required before you would be able to perhaps receive an indemnity on some or all of your acres.
You can click on the LISTEN BAR below to hear our conversation with Dr. Edwards. Click here for the OSU Wheat Improvement Team website which has more information about wheat resources available from Oklahoma State University.
Our conversation with Dr. Edwards is a part of the 2013 crop series of updates called WheatWatch2013- a service of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission. To learn more about how the Wheat Commission is working hard for Oklahoma Wheat Producers, click here.
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