Agricultural News
Mike Schulte with the Oklahoma Wheat Commission Says 2022 Crop Hanging On- Just Barely
Mon, 21 Mar 2022 12:52:18 CDT
The 2022 Oklahoma Hard Red Winter Wheat crop is hanging on by a thread- even with rain falling in some locations across the state on Monday. Oklahoma Wheat Commission Executive Director Mike Schulte says that while parts of Oklahoma has wheat that was not grazed over fall and winter and still looks fairly good- but unless rain comes- many of those fields are starting to look blue and yield loss may follow.
Oklahoma Farm Report's Ron Hays talked with Mike Schulte about the crop as winter ends and spring begins. Schulte tells Hays "I think right now- especially in the next two to three weeks that it's critical that we receive moisture- and if we don't then we may be facing yield losses."
Many locations across the the Oklahoma wheat belt have had little if any rain since Halloween- and that has made getting a bumper crop less and less likely. Schulte adds that the wheat has been grazed will be hard pressed to recover unless rain is widespread with amounts well above what seems to be in the forecast.
As for the decisions that farmers will have to make about applying spring inputs onto their wheat fields- Hays asked Schulte if farmers "roll the dice" and apply fertilizer as the crop starts it's spring growth spurt. He says that many farmers started with some fertilizer in the soil profile to get the crop started and are now playing the wait and see game of wanting to apply more only if adequate rain shows up.
Schulte also says that this 2022 crop is a late crop. Wheat planted in early to mid October is likely at least two weeks behind normal- with wheat not planted until the final days of October into the first couple of weeks of November may be as much as four to five weeks behind normal.
Hear all of Mike Schulte's comments about the 2022 Oklahoma HRW Crop by clicking on the Listen Bar below.
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