Agricultural News
Panhandle Wheat Harvest Could be 90 Percent Below Average, Kochenower Says
Wed, 01 May 2013 19:26:56 CDT
While this year's wheat harvest may turn in a dismal performance statewide, Rick Kochenower says in the Panhandle it will be even worse. He has toured area and reported on the crop's condition at the 2013 Oklahoma Grain and Feed Association Annual Meeting.
He spoke with Ron Hays at the meeting and didn't express a lot of optimism about the four counties he reported on: Harper, Beaver, Cimarron, and Texas Counties.
"Between drought and the late freezes we had here in April, it's basically- I'm hoping. I know I reported two million bushels today, I think I was being way overly optimistic.
"I toured Cimarron County yesterday and I think 95 percent of it won't be cut. If it doesn't rain in the next three weeks, the only thing we'll be cutting will be irrigated and some of it's got freeze injury on it.
"There's kind of a dividing line along Highway 54 which runs kind of northeast to southwest through the Panhandle and west of that line it's all drought driven. East of that line it's more freeze-injury driven where we're going to lose our yield.
"I've got producers worried about seed wheat. I talked to a producer yesterday who's already called and ordered seed wheat because he knows he's not going to be able to cut anything. The seed wheat issue is probably what most producers are worried about. They're hoping they can cut enough to get seed wheat on those acres."
Kochenower says the Panhandle counties normally produce 15 to 18 million bushels.
"Optimistically, we'll cut two million bushels. Realistically, it's going to be closer to a million. So, we're going to cut seven to eight percent of a normal crop."
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI
Top Agricultural News
More Headlines...
