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Cosmetically, the state's wheat took a hit but yield-wise, it should be fine.

Donald Stotts, Communications Specialist

November 11, 2020

2 Min Read
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Dual-purpose graze-and-grain operations account for about half of the wheat acreage in Oklahoma and a significant portion of wheat grown in northern Texas and southern Kansas. A recent cold spell doesn't appear to have hurt yields.Todd Johnson, OSU Agricultural Communications Services

Alternating weeks of warm and cold weather are typical this time of year in the Southern Plains. But the late-October cold snap and its accompanying freezing rain, though it caused widespread power outages still being addressed in certain regions, did not negatively affect the state wheat crop other than cosmetically, said Amanda de Oliveira Silva, Oklahoma State University Extension small grains specialist.

“Most of the wheat that was up had only recently emerged and yield should not be negatively affected, from what we are seeing in wheat plots around the state,” she said. “It’s not pretty but quality should be fine.”

Silva shared insights about Oklahoma wheat and the recent freezing rain on SUNUP, the university’s weekly agriculture television program.

OSU Extension agricultural educators Rick Nelson of Garfield County and Zack Henderson of Custer County echoed Silva’s assessment of the situation.

“We can live with ugly wheat,” Nelson said. “Producers in our area of the state were mostly just elated to have some much-needed precipitation. The freezing rain was a hard way to get the moisture, but they were thankful for it.”

Lack of moisture has been a very real issue in western Oklahoma and Henderson has seen plenty of evidence in his county. The Oklahoma Mesonet shows Custer County and surrounding areas to be in D2 (severe) or D3 (extreme) levels of drought.

“Most dual-purpose wheat producers in Oklahoma should still be in decent shape to have a grazing resource available going into early winter,” he said. “Cattle don’t care if the wheat is ugly as long as it is palatable, and that is the primary takeaway.”

Market conditions in early fall for grazing cattle 120 days and selling them in March suggested potential for winter grazing returns above production costs. Though the markets are always variable, that appears to be holding true as of early November.

“There are areas of southwestern and far western Oklahoma where some wheat producers have been waiting to get moisture before planting their wheat,” said Mike Schulte, Oklahoma Wheat Commission executive director. “People I’ve spoken with have shared that it is still too wet to get into their fields as of Nov. 3, so we’ll be keeping an eye on that. Also, planting late in the year can affect operational decisions relative to growing wheat and using it as a grazing resource.”

OSU Extension fact sheets detailing key management considerations relative to growing wheat as a grain-only or dual-purpose enterprise are available online and through all OSU Extension county offices.

Source: is OSU, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.

About the Author(s)

Donald Stotts

Communications Specialist, Oklahoma State University Agricultural Communications Services

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