As of this week, USDA reports that the 2017 wheat crop in Oklahoma is 83 percent planted and that 64 percent of that has shown to be emerging. Mike Schulte of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission tells Farm Director Ron Hays that he believes we are even further along than that, despite some producers getting a late start in certain areas. However, he warns not to expect near the amount of acres planted in wheat this year, as we’ve seen in the past.
“Talking with elevator managers and producers in Southwest Oklahoma,” Schulte said, “producers in that part of the state they’ve been waiting until right about now to start planting; much later than they normally do.”
Schulte suggests warmer than normal temperatures and threat of armyworms have played in to that decision for local farmers. But it is the volume of wheat on hand and the doldrum in the cash market that he attributes to producers’ attraction of alternative crops.
“I do think that producers are looking at different options this year,” Schulte said. “There’s going to be a lot of producers that opt to go with cotton. We’re seeing a lot of the crop acres going into soybeans already. We’re seeing also more interest in canola in Northwest Oklahoma. I think that’s going to continue.”
In an effort to help the wheat market recover, Schulte says the Wheat Commission will continue to explore opportunities to move the abundance of grain being stored right now.
Schulte will join Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays for his weekly In the Field segment on KWTV News9 in the Oklahoma City area on Saturday morning at 6:40 a.m.
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