June 11, 2021
By News Director Jared Atha
according to a recent survey by U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, Oklahoma producers are expected to harvest a little over 105 million bushels of wheat this year.
The estimate is based by two surveys done by the USDA’s Southern Plains Regional Office.
This year’s production is a 1% increase from the 104 million bushels harvested last year. The forecast, though, is down 2.7 million bushels from the forecast in May, according to the statisticians.
They also report that yield is forecast to be 39 bushels an acre, down one bushel from last year.
Oklahoma Wheat Commission said in its harvest report released Wednesday that harvest is underway in southern parts of the state, although rain has hampered the effort with a large portion of Tillman County receiving half to 3½ inches of rain late Sunday evening and early Monday morning.
Yields in Southwest Oklahoma have been favorable, according to the report, ranging from the mid-30s to the mid-60s. Test weights have been favorable as well, according to the report, with some parts of Washita, Kiowa, and Caddo counties seeing weights of 65.5 pounds per bushel. Wheat must register at least 60 pounds per bushel to command the best price.
Producers were hoping warmer, drier weather would lower moisture ranges and allow them to get into fields soon, according to the report.
Harvest in Oklahoma usually starts in the south and works its way up toward the Kansas line.
Wheat harvest in the state has been up and down for the past 10 years, ranging from a high of 154.8 million bushels in 2012, to a low of 47.6 million bushels in 2014, when it was severely impacted by drought, then too much rain at harvest time.
Yields, too, have varied, from a high of 40 bushels an acre in 2019 and 2020, to a low of 17 bushels an acre in 2014.
