Jury still out on Enid-area wheat, much of state's crop hurt by freeze

Apr 17, 2009      Enid News and Eagle

Kevin Hassler

Apr. 17, 2009 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- Agriculture experts continue to assess the damage to Oklahoma's wheat crop from a freeze last week, but the signs are pointing to significant damage.

The crop in the southwest part of the state was hit particularly hard. Already suffering the effects of a prolonged drought, the wheat in that area took another hit from the freeze of April 6-7.

"The farther south you went, the worse it got," said Tim Bartram, executive director of Oklahoma Wheat Growers Asso-ciation. "The freeze was probably the final nail in the coffin."

Insurance adjusters already have been out assessing the situation there, and some of the crop will be written off and not harvested, said Mike Schulte, executive director of Oklahoma Wheat Commission.

"It looks like it's going to be a trying time for our industry," he said.

Around Enid, the situation is less clear because the crop was not as far along in development.

"We don't fully know yet," Bartram said. "We weren't setting up for a bumper crop anyway."

Now, he is figuring at best northwest Oklahoma will see an average crop.

Jeff Bedwell, Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Ser-vice ag educator in Garfield County, said the amount of damage sustained in the Enid area varies from field to field.

A survey by colleagues shows varying percentages of nonviable wheat heads in plants, he said, ranging from 20 percent to 80 percent.

"It's really a mixed bag out there," Bedwell said.

The thicker the stands of wheat, the less damage is being seen, he said, although even that isn't the case in all fields.

Bedwell said the crop is shaping up to be slightly below average. He said he hasn't seen as many nonviable heads in wheat before.

"We still have a lot of time for this to evolve," he said. "There's a lot of what-ifs yet."

Future weather conditions will dictate what's going to happen, he said. Cooler and wetter conditions would help the crop, while hotter and drier weather could stress the plants, exacerbating the problems caused by the freeze.

Wheat production recently has been up and down, depending on the weather.

Last year, conditions were good and the harvest reflected it, with 166.5 million bushels being collected, according to U.S. Department of Agricul-ture's National Agricultural Statistics Service.

That was nearly double the 98 million bushels harvested in 2007 and more than double the 81.6 million bushels harvested in 2006.

In 2007, the crop was shaping up to be a good one before an April freeze caused some damage. Then, many farmers weren't able to get combines in their fields because of heavy rain at harvest and a lot of the crop was left in the fields. In 2006, the crop was devastated by drought.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0472-34203482

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