Agricultural News
Oklahoma Wheat Crop Looking Better Than One Year Ago- Mike Schulte In the Field
Wed, 25 Mar 2015 15:24:01 CDT
No doubt about it- the Oklahoma Hard Red Winter Wheat belt has had more rain and snow from November 1 through early March than was seen in 2014. Oklahoma Wheat Commission Executive Director Mike Schulte said this moisture has the state's wheat crop better off than a year ago. In traveling the state, he said the crop looks like it is growing and conditions are favorable right now. This latest snow has helped the crop- especially in the central and southern parts of the state. Schulte said the moisture was limited into the northwest region and in parts of the panhandle of the state.
Radio Oklahoma Network Farm Director Ron Hays talked with Schulte on Friday, doing both a video interview seen Saturday morning on KWTV News9 as well as a more extensive audio conversation. Click or tap on the LISTENBAR below to listen to the audio interview- and you can tap on the PLAY button in the VIDEO Box below to see the In the Field Feature with Schulte as broadcast Saturday morning.
Much of the state's wheat crop has reached first hollow stem, a critical time to move cattle off wheat pasture, if farmers plan to harvest the crop for grain. Schulte said the First Hollow Stem advisor tool available through the Oklahoma Mesonet is a valuable assessment tool. If farmers don't remove their cattle in a timely matter, he said yields are curbed by one percent to as much as five percent daily. In leaving cattle on wheat pasture for an extra week that could lower grain yields by 35 percent.
Oklahoma State University (OSU) varieties continue to be the leading hard red winter wheat varieties planted in the state. That's according to a new report released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service. Schulte said planted OSU varieties increased by four percent from last year with 44% of the wheat varieties planted in Oklahoma from OSU.
Duster has been the number one planted variety in the state for four consecutive years, accounting for 14.1 percent of the state's 2015 planted wheat acres. Duster was followed by Endurance, Gallagher and Ruby Lee. The USDA report shows these four top varieties represent over 34% of the acres seeded to wheat in the fall of 2014 for the 2015 harvest season. Schulte said is a sign of positive farmer support of the new varieties being developed by OSU Wheat Improvement Team.
While farmers often choose wheat varieties based on their performance in the field, Schulte said the varieties developed by OSU have also been tested for quality based attributes for domestic and foreign customers. That sets the OSU program a part from others, in considering more than just agronomic traits, but also looking at the end-use quality traits useful for the miller and the baker.
Click here for our earlier story on the Wheat Variety Results from USDA.
OSU will offer wheat variety trials field days starting April 23 and continuing into May. Details will be made available the through the Oklahoma Wheat Commission website. Schulte encourages farmers to attend these field days as there is a lot of information presented . Producers have a lot more options compared to what they had five to ten years ago as far as variety releases and he believes farmers need to take the time to see what is going on in the OSU wheat breeding program.
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