Oklahoma's Wheat Harvest May Be Worst In 50 Years

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Oklahoma's wheat crop this year will be the smallest in almost half a century, according to a survey released this week. <br/><br/>The Oklahoma Feed and Grain Association conducted

Saturday, May 6th 2006, 10:43 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Oklahoma's wheat crop this year will be the smallest in almost half a century, according to a survey released this week.

The Oklahoma Feed and Grain Association conducted a statewide survey that showed farmers will bring in 67 million bushels of wheat, which would be the smallest statewide crop since 1957, when 43 million bushels were produced.

Last year, Oklahoma wheat farmers produced 128 million bushels, which was considered a below-average crop.

The economic impact is an estimated $280 million, based on lost income to producers and for the storage and handling of the wheat, said Kim Anderson, a marketing economist at Oklahoma State University.

``The multiplier on that is about three for the state, so that's $840 million for the state,'' Anderson said. ``That's taking a bite out of our pocket.''

In some areas such as southwestern counties, producers may harvest only 10 percent to 20 percent of a normal crop.

``The price is irrelevant if they don't have any wheat to sell,'' said Mark Hodges, executive director of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission.

Many farmers may have plowed under their withered wheat and planted a spring crop to salvage some income potential, Hodges said.

The number of wheat acres planted but harvested could be reduced to as much as 800,000 to 900,000 acres from a year ago, he said. Oklahoma farmers harvested wheat from 4 million acres in 2005, which was down 700,000 acres from the previous year.

``It's almost impossible to determine today the acres that have been abandoned because we have a lot of fields that are anywhere from 10 to 15 to 20 bushels per acre, and the decision to harvest those fields has not been made yet,'' Hodges said.

For many farmers and the related businesses that depend on a wheat crop, the goal has become just to find a way to survive, Anderson said.

``There's no magic wand on that,'' he said. ``For the producers who don't have it and the elevators who don't get it, it is just going to be a lean year and they are just going to hopefully survive until next year.''