Agricultural News
Weather, Marketing, Political Concerns Weigh Heavily on Wheat Producers' Minds, Schulte Says
Fri, 12 Apr 2013 18:25:15 CDT
With harvest drawing ever closer, Mike Schulte of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission says Oklahoma producers have a lot on their plates right now. From weather concerns to marketing to federal government budgets and policies, he says there are an awful lot of obstacles to be navigated. He spoke recently with Ron Hays and will appear on "In the Field" this Saturday morning about 6:40 a.m. on KWTV News 9. (You can also listen to the audio version of this story by clicking on the LISTEN BAR at the bottom of this story.)
Schulte says the most pressing concern for producers right now is the weather and its affect on crop condition. The 2013 crop right now appears to be limping along.
"We do have a lot of concerns because we've been hit hard with a lot of different scenarios out there right now in the field. To begin with, when producers planted, there was no moisture at all in the state. It was dusted in. We got erratic stands from the beginning. In many places the crop didn't even emerge until late December and, in some places up in northwest Oklahoma, the first week of February. So we already know with the emergence coming that late, generally, yield potential is greatly reduced going into a crop season.
"And then looking at the stands that were out there that just did not have the tiller capability that we've had in the past because we haven't had any moisture until late in the year and then we have a root system that's just not very well developed. think not only in Oklahoma, this goes on in west Texas on up into west Kansas into Nebraska. We're really seeing the same thing.
"So, producers not only in Oklahoma but all over, have some great concerns for this wheat crop."
He said producers are thankful they have been getting rain recently, but with subsoil moisture at such low levels it will take continued timely rains to keep this crop moving forward. Despite the rains, recent freezing temperatures may prove an insurmountable obstacle for some stands, Schulte says.
"With the first freeze we saw on March 26th, we are already seeing damage in southwest Oklahoma taking place. I think a lot of times we tend to be overly concerned, but with the damage that we're seeing from March 26th in those regions, when we open up the head, it does look like 50 to 75 percent of the head is damaged in areas down there.
"And now that we're two weeks further into the growth cycle in southwest Oklahoma we now have this last freeze here on Tuesday and Wednesday. Some of the wheat in those areas was headed out that had survived and so, really, producers do have great concern down there."
Schulte said that given all these weather factors he is not expecting a strong crop and we may see a below-average year.
Schulte said that marketing efforts with U.S. Wheat are looking positive, with three foreign trade teams scheduled to visit Oklahoma this summer. Trade representatives from Nigeria, Ecuador and Israel will be in Oklahoma beginning in June. He said that OSU will provide a procurement course for the representatives so that they can see how to best utilize the wheat that comes from Oklahoma.
While expanded trade policies may help Oklahoma wheat producers, Schulte says the federal government may not be so helpful. The budget released recently by President Barrack Obama suggests elimination of the Food for Peace program. It would shift from sending U.S. commodities directly to countries in need. The budget calls for allowing up to 45 percent of food aid to be purchased outside the United State. It would also end the practice of selling commodities to fund development assistance, known as monetization.
Various agriculture groups have spoken out against the proposed changes, which would harm the existing - and very successful - system of food aid, which guarantees quality products for those in need and builds goodwill for the U.S. in countries that are working to improve conditions for their people.
"I think there's some misconceptions with the administration that they think these programs are used to maybe line the pockets of producers here in the central U.S. and nothing could be further from the truth. These programs were set up 60 to 70 years ago because agriculturalists wanted to have these programs in order to enable us to distribute wheat to these countries in their time of need, but maybe also create a market for us in the future.
"One thing that I think that we really have to look at with these programs is that we've seen it time and time again that the economic development that takes place in these countries once we have shipped food to them in their time of need, we see economic development that starts to occur- In the future it has a potential to be a market for U.S. wheat."
Schulte cites as an example Mexico which used to be a huge beneficiary of food aid programs from the United States.
"Now they're our largest buyer of Oklahoma hard red winter wheat. So we need to keep these programs in place in order to be moving the wheat to these countries. At the end of the day I think that's U.S. Wheat's goal, that's my goal that we continue to work on."
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