According to Gary Strickland, Extension Educator, Agriculture/4-H/CED, the recent rain in our area was great, but it didn’t turn the wheat crop around.

Many of the counties grazed acres and later planted wheat had been through enough drought stress, drought related physiological stress (early termination of tillers and poor root growth development) that when the rain came it was most likely a little too late. I have seen many fields that have entered the boot stage at 8 inches in height with seed heads having only 12 - 14 florets. This short plant and small seed head indicates extreme plant stress. Normal plant height for this time of year should be somewhere in the 14-20 inch range depending on variety and an average seed head will have from 26-32 florets with a large seed head having as many as 50+ florets. When inspecting these plants I have also usually found several terminated tillers. Many county fields have already been evaluated for low yield potential (1-4 bushels/acre) and released while others might show from 8 to 15 bushel potential. In either case these yield projections are well off our normal and will not offer producers the opportunity to cover input costs for this crop. In these cases either terminating the wheat crop (if released by insurance adjusters) and planting a short seasoned spring/summer crop or utilizing this crop to put up a small amount of wheat hay may be the most viable options.

Now does this mean we will not have grain producing fields this year; NO. Within the county there are some fields (certainly a smaller percentage) that have held on to look fairly good considering the year. These fields have not lost tillers, were in general not grazed, and tended to be planted around the last of September or first of October. Some of these fields have the potential to make county average yields of 29-30 bushels (with the recent rain and the hope of more rainfall in the near future). However, in the recent past these fields have made in the 45-50 bushel range again indicating yield potential has been negatively impacted in these fields as well.

While wheat is an amazing plant and can be quite forgiving of environmental conditions, all current signs in the county’s crop show us that it probably will not recover as well this year as in years past.



Upcoming Events

á April 12th - Oklahoma Beef Congress, Oklahoma Feeders Inc. near Guthrie, 9:30 a.m. - 1:15 p.m., Pre-registration requested by April 5th, Come by the Extension Office for registration forms.

á April 25-26th - Governor’s Conference of Agriculture and Economic Growth, OKC Marriott, Pre-registration requested by April 14th, Registration Cost is $45 for pre-registration or single day attendance or $60 for late registration. Come by the Extension Office for registration forms.

á May 5 & 6th - 29th Annual Wildflower Workshop, Grove, Ok., Pre-registration requested by April 21st. Registration cost is $8 if pre-registered or $12 at the door, additional meal costs and tour costs will also be charged. Program starts at 8 a.m. on Friday morning and goes to 3 p.m., Dinner that evening if you choose and then Saturday Tours. Contact the Extension Office for more information (482-0823).