As harvest winds down, yield still question mark

Jun 27, 2009      Enid News and Eagle

Cass Rains

Jun. 27, 2009 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- As wheat harvest winds down, ag experts are reluctant to speculate how this year's crop will fare other than to say it won't meet last year's standards.

"It's a little too early to tell exactly where we're going to be," said Mike Shulte, executive director of Oklahoma Wheat Commission.

He said the wheat that's been harvested so far appears to have fared better in the northern part of the state.

Weather has taken its toll on this year's crop, which suffered a severe drought, an overabundance of rain in specific areas, an April freeze and hail that resulted in the abandonment of crops in some counties.

"In the far northern counties we are seeing better yields than were predicted in the beginning," Shulte said. He said the south and southwest portions of the state were hit hardest by the weather and disparity among crop quality across the state won't undo the damage that's been done this year.

U.S. Department of Agri-culture estimated this year's harvest will produce a 73.5 million bushel crop, a fraction of last year's 166.5 million bushel crop.

"We're looking at over a half a billion dollar loss that's going to take place this year by what's happened with the wheat industry," Shulte said.

According to 2007 U.S. Census data, there were 8,744 wheat farmers in the state. In that year, 3.5 million acres of wheat were harvested. In 2008, 4.5 million acres were harvested. The USDA estimates a 3.5 million acre harvest for wheat this year, but another estimate will be re-leased Tuesday.

Shulte said the freeze, drought and hail were factors that led to nearly a million acres being abandoned this year. As harvesting comes to an end, Shulte said it was too soon to estimate an average yield for the crop, other than to say it will be "significantly lower" than last year.

Oklahoma Wheat Grow-er's Association Executive Director Tim Bartram also said it was too soon to issue a firm estimate about this year's crop but was pessimistic about the outcome.

"It's not going to be a good harvest any way we go," he said. "Some producers may turn out better than others, but overall it's not going to be a good harvest for the state."

He also noted the difference in quality in the wheat throughout the state but said some wheat was better than what growers expected.

"I think we're just going to have to wait a little while before we know," he said. "I'm hearing some difference of opinion."

Jeff Bedwell, Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Ser-vice ag educator for Garfield County, said this year's crop held few surprises, calling the harvest "lackluster."

"It was as we expected -- highly variable," he said. "There were some pretty strong yields that exceeded 35 to 40 (bushels an acre) in Garfield County and there were some that were in the mid-20s, and we had some harvested that were in the 15s.

"It was just kind of a lackluster harvest."

Joe Collins, ADM terminal manager and wheat buyer, said most producers were "pleasantly surprised" with this year's harvest.

"All in all, over the last five years this is not as bad as the two previous disasters in 2006 and 2007," he said. "The crop in the Enid area was better than most expected."

He said yields from the Enid area were in the 20s to 30s. He said the farther north toward the Kansas border, yields grew to the mid- to upper-30s. Most area growers were pleased.

"There wasn't much complaining going on," Collins said. "Overall, I think they did a good job."

Bison Co-op Manager Travis Neal said harvest would be complete sometime next week but the quality has been good.

"So far, the quality of the wheat was pretty good. The quantity wasn't near what we expected," he said. "It was better than we expected it to be. Coming into this we were expecting overall yield of 10 to 15 and I'd say we finished with 20 to 25."

Carrier Mill and Elevator Co. General manager Lee Redman said he too was pleasantly surprised with the harvest.

"Our harvest was a little better than we expected," he said. "It wasn't up to average but it was better than expected. It's just a lot better than I thought we had."

Redman said he'd heard of yields from 25 to 50 bushels an acre, but it depended on the variety of wheat and the stage it was when the freeze hit. He estimated an average yield of about 35 bushels. He said test weights were in the 59s and 60s.

To grade No. 1, and collect a higher price, wheat must have a test weight of at least 60 pounds per bushel, according to USDA.

"We're not going to have any trouble marketing wheat this year," Redman said. "It's in pretty good shape."

Ronnie Truelock, general manager for Farmer's Co-op Association in Alva, said this year's harvest wasn't what was hoped for, but most area producers were happy when compared with growers in south of the state.

"It's been a decent harvest when we look south of us," Truelock. "When we look to the southern part of the state we're glad to have what we have."

Truelock said yields have varied between growers, but are below average.

"We've had some under 20 and over 50," he said. "We're probably going to average in the mid-30s, plus or minus a bushel or two. That's not too bad."

He said a normal average yield was 40 to 45 bushels.

Dacoma Farmers Cooper-ative General Manager Joe Royster estimated this year's harvest to be half to two- thirds of last year.

He said yields ranged from 18 to 35 bushels and test weights were 58, 59 and 60.

"It was better than what I was forecasting but it's still not anything to write home about," he said. "It still wasn't up to par. It didn't get close to average."

Newstex ID: 36067010

Return to full Washington Letter