This year’s hard red winter wheat harvest has been one for the history books, but the Oklahoma Wheat Commission says it is not in the way producers had hoped for.
“We really didn’t think we were going to harvest anything because of the long-term drought. We did start getting rain the third and fourth week of May when the crop was ready (to harvest) and in all instances, producers across the state have been so thankful for it have not been complaining about it- it did allow us to harvest some things that we never even thought would make a crop at all so in those instances, it did help us in central Oklahoma but there was just so much loss to begin with,” said Mike Schulte.
But Schulte says not all hope is lost. He is happy with the quality given all the challenges producers faced this season.
“I mean there are some lower test weights in the central part of the state, I suspect now we are getting lower test weights on this last bit that we are harvesting in northern Oklahoma, but in many places, we were able to get 50 to 70 percent of the crop out with test weights being 60 lbs or above. Average overall for the state, we’re maybe going to look at a 59 lbs. test weight, and I think that’s pretty remarkable considering the year that we had.”
It is evident more wheat was harvested than expected. Yesterday’s WASDE report showed USDA raised its U.S. wheat supply outlook by more than a million tons.
