Experts Say Wheat Crop Will Exceed Last Year's

ENID, Okla. (AP) _ Despite conditions ranging from drought to near-floods, experts in northwestern Oklahoma predict the state's wheat crop this year will exceed that of 2006. <br/><br/>The annual wheat

Sunday, May 27th 2007, 4:57 pm

By: News On 6

ENID, Okla. (AP) _ Despite conditions ranging from drought to near-floods, experts in northwestern Oklahoma predict the state's wheat crop this year will exceed that of 2006.

The annual wheat harvest could begin in parts of the state next week.

``I don't think we'll know until it's in the bin,'' Johnston Enterprises President Lew Meibergen said of this year's crop. ``Last year was a wreck. We're expecting better.''

Meibergen said some Oklahoma wheat ``has started to turn, and some is as green as a gourd. It has a long tail to it.''

According to a forecast from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agriculture Statistics Service, the Oklahoma wheat harvest should total 161 million bushels, a 97 percent increase over last year, when 81.6 million bushels were harvested.

A harvest of 161 million bushels would mean the state has had one of its best crops in recent years. The only time in the last seven years the state has exceeded that total came in 2003 (179.4 million bushels) and 2004 (164.5 million bushels).

Joe Royster, the general manager of Farmer's Co-op Trading Co., expressed skepticism about the size of the harvest in northwestern Oklahoma.

``It's real confusing,'' Royster said. ``We planted wheat in the dust. It got froze. It's been hit by disease and a wind storm ... It won't beat northwest Oklahoma's average.''

Royster said production costs for farmers also have risen, citing high costs for fuel and fertilizer.

Paul Campbell, the Plains Partners Co-op location manager, said some of the crop has been lost because of diseases and damage caused by worms and insects, but that he expects this year's crop to be better because ``last year was a flop in most areas.''

A late freeze in April also didn't help matters, said Tim Bartram, the executive director of the Oklahoma Wheat Growers Association. He estimated that about 10 percent of Oklahoma's wheat crop suffered damage from that freeze.