Agricultural News
Wheat Producer Don Schieber Concerned About Test Weights as He Cuts Wheat in SW Oklahoma
Mon, 08 Jun 2015 05:29:27 CDT
The first weekend of June proved to be busy in southwestern Oklahoma for the rain delayed 2015 hard red winter wheat harvest. According to wheat farmer and custom cutter Don Schieber, the fields have dried out to the point that there are few mudholes left to have to cut around in Tillman and Cotton counties- and that if the weather will stay dry in the southwest- harvest will be starting to wind down in these and the other counties along the Red River.
Schieber, who farms in Kay County, brings a pair of John Deere Combines south most years and cuts first in the Chattanoogna area for long time friend David Gammill and then later moves to Minco where he has several hundred acres that he harvests in that central Oklahoma community before heading home to Kildare in Kay County.
Schieber talked with Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays Sunday evening as he hauled wheat to a local elevator. He indicated that the elevators in this part of southwestern Oklahoma have been very busy over the weekend. He believes that the larger custom crews are starting to move north out of this area- leaving the remaining harvest work in these communities to farmers with their own machines in the week ahead.
Schieber noted that a key quality indicator, test weight, has been slipping as he has harvested. He believes that most loads have ranged from 56 to 58 pounds per bushel, as the record May rainfall did hurt the kernel size. He adds that one significant positive is that he has seen virtually no sprout damage, which was a major worry as we came into harvest as June arrived. He adds that the wheat itself has a good color- but that the straw has little color left after the rains.
You can hear the complete conversation that Schieber and Hays had by clicking on the LISTEN BAR below.
On Friday afternoon- the latest Oklahoma Wheat Commission wheat harvest report was released- click here to review that complete report. The Commission report, as compiled by Executive Director Mike Schulte, suggested that going into the weekend that test weights were holding up better than what Schieber was reporting in the area he was working in. The Friday Wheat Commission harvest report showed 58 pound test weights were the norm early on from the locations that they reported on.
This past Thursday evening, the first Plains Grains harvest report was released by Mark Hodges and that same general quality report was indicated in the PGI report- "Very early test weights are reportedly averaging from 57 lb/bu (75.1 kg/hl) to 59 lb/bu (77.6 kg/hl) in Oklahoma, slightly lower in north Texas. Protein percentages being reported are ranging from 10% to 13% (12% mb) and yields ranging from 20 to 50 bushels per acre (1.4 to 3.4 tons/ha). Sprout damage has been very limited at this point, but again all cutting has been on sandy soils on standing wheat." Click here for the June 5 Plains Grains report.
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