Agricultural News
Weather Patterns Affecting Oklahoma Agriculture May be Changing, Travis Meyer Says
Thu, 12 Dec 2013 16:54:41 CST
Not only is he a meteorologist, but Travis Meyer with the News On 6 in Tulsa is also a rancher in southern Tulsa County. He spoke with Radio Oklahoma's Ron Hays at the Tulsa Farm Show about this past year's weather and what Oklahomans might see as 2014 begins. He says that even though the drought may have eased in many parts of the state compared to the previous year, the effects are still being felt.
"In the spring, and even in the summer, when I was cutting hay, a lot of the prairie hay meadows, the native prairie hay meadows, they weren't that good. When we got our first cutting-and with native grasses you only want to cut one time a year-we had about a 50-percent drop off or death of plants. There were gaps and holes and that went throughout Osage County. We have a lot of hay-producing country around here. So, the leftovers, to me, are still significant because the drought was so intense for so long."
He said that many producers in eastern Oklahoma were pleased that conditions are somewhat better and that the wheat crop was good, but there will be residual effects of the drought for some time to come.
"Agriculture, I think, overall, was better with row crops because a lot more farmers weren't just shaking their heads and throwing dust in the air. But, as we go forward, it's going to be interesting to see, too, what happens for this next year because out of the 12 months so far this year, nine of them have been normal or below normal for temperatures. Compare that to the last two years when every month minus one, I think it was last year in 2012, was above normal. We hit a high point and I don't know if we're really coming down, but it looks like we are."
The latest drought numbers are showing conditions in the western counties are deteriorating. Meyer says that trend is troublesome, but climatologists say the models are showing drought improvement should be the long-term trend even though it is painfully slow to develop in some areas. Models show that the Southwest United States, however, will still be at greater risk for drought this year.
"There's still a little bit of potential for higher drought in the Southwest-and I'm talking about the Southwest U.S.-and also a little warmer than normal, which doesn't bode well for west Texas and western Oklahoma. That's still an issue, a big concern, we're still praying about it."
Meyer said that the recent cold snap across Oklahoma is the earliest, coldest, cold wave on record in Oklahoma. He said this may also be the beginning of a trend.
"We're headed in a direction I don't like in the winter. I don't like chopping ice and trying to feed cattle extra hay, but if it ends up bringing more moisture in the spring and summer, I'll live with it."
In the short term, Meyer says that ocean currents in the Pacific haven't shown a clear tendency toward hotter or cooler weather, so we'll have to wait and see, but at least through December we can expect the cold weather to continue with waves of storms. In January, the pattern may be a little quieter with fewer storm fronts.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI
Top Agricultural News
More Headlines...
