Oklahoma's winter wheat crops hurt by lack of rain, freezes

A lack of rain and three hard freezes in March are to blame for Oklahoma's failed winter wheat crops, agriculture officials say. <br><br>From Sept. 1 to March 1 - the crucial growing stage for winter

Sunday, April 7th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

A lack of rain and three hard freezes in March are to blame for Oklahoma's failed winter wheat crops, agriculture officials say.

From Sept. 1 to March 1 - the crucial growing stage for winter wheat - that state has received little rain, said Roger Gribble, an agronomist for the Oklahoma Cooperative.

In fact, the Panhandle had 2 percent of its normal rainfall in March and the area west of Enid had only 20 percent, he said. From Enid to Blackwell, rainfall was 16 percent of normal.

The harvest is still two months away, but many farmers are cutting their losses, like Katherine and R.J. Severin of Carrier.

The Severins had had never collected an insurance payment in 42 years of farming, but did so this year when none of the wheat came up in one of their fields in Garfield County.

``The field just looks like dirt,'' Katherine Severin said. ``It's very much a drought in this area. It just depended upon where the rain fell. There isn't anything we can do about that.''

The Severins had planned to harvest grain from the field but now cannot even put cattle there to graze.

By April, wheat plants should be at 64 percent in the jointing process according to the five-year average, but much of Oklahoma is at only 30 percent, Gribble said.

Jointing occurs when the stem makes a node.

Also adding to the problem have been high winds, which have caused soil erosion problems, and insect infestations in the spring, fall and winter last year, he said.

The Oklahoma Farm Bureau has received insurance claims for damaged or failed crops from mostly northwest Oklahoma, said Scott Bulling, the insurance company's crop program manager.

After insurance companies agree to make payment, farmers can make hay from the grass or graze it, but they cannot harvest the grain, officials said.

Once the crop is destroyed, the company will pay the farmer.

Some of the state's crop could be salvaged with rain this weekend, Gribble said.

If fields east of Enid receive rain soon, farmers could still have a chance for an average yield from those fields.

However, it may be too late west of Enid. Those fields probably would still produce below normal if they received rain right away, he said.