Agricultural News
In the Field- Watch Ron Hays and Mark Hodges Discuss the 2013 Hard Red Winter Wheat Crop
Sat, 11 May 2013 20:40:33 CDT
The extent of the damage from this year's spring weather on the hard red winter crop is beginning to show. There have been multiple freezes across the wheat belt, drought conditions and, in some places recently, heavy rains and hail.
Mark Hodges of Plains Grains spoke with Radio Oklahoma Network Farm Director Ron Hays and says there has definitely been some damage to the crop, but most of it was done before the late season freezes. Ron and Mark did both an audio interview- click here to jump to that story from end of last week for a chance to listen to that conversation.
In addition- Mark was the guest of Ron Hays on the Saturday morning segment seen on KWTV News9 called In the Field. Click on the play button in the video box below to watch that conversation.
"The drought is probably more devastating than what the freezes have been, if you look on a wide-scale basis. And, of course, that starts in South Dakota and moves southward into the Nebraska panhandle. They have had some freeze damage, but the drought has devastated them. They will harvest very little wheat in the Nebraska panhandle."
Hodges said that drought damage in southeast Colorado is extensive as well. He said grasslands have been hard hit, too.
"Even on rangeland, there's not any grass left. If they don't get some moisture, significant moisture, fairly quickly, rangeland's even going to be blowing up there."
Severe drought west of Guymon in the Oklahoma panhandle continues, Hodges says and the bone-dry conditions run down through much of the Texas panhandle.
When thinking about Oklahoma, Hodges said the crop overall is in poor shape coming off of a fairly good year. He said this year's production will be far below last year's.
"It's probably half of what we had last year, realistically, half. We hope it doesn't go any lower than that. It potentially could."
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