News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports | Weather woes could hurt state wheat crop
Associated Press - May 24, 2009 3:35 PM ET
LAWTON, Okla. (AP) - Agriculture officials in southwest Oklahoma say a winter drought, heavy spring rains and a late freeze have combined for a dismal picture for this year's wheat harvest.
Walters Co-Op Elevator Association manager Jerry Krasser says yields on fields that have been cut so far this year have been "miserable."
Krasser is seeing only 16 bushels an acre, at most, from fields that were producing 60 bushels last year, when farmers saw a bumper crop. He says farmers will have to pull their belts even tighter because of high energy prices.
He says inputs like fuel and fertilizer were purchased by farmers before the energy prices came down last year.
Cotton County farmers are the first in southwest Oklahoma to begin this year's wheat harvest. Krasser expects the harvest to last for around three weeks. Rain in the forecast could dampen those aspirations and what's left of the crop in the fields.
Information from: The Lawton Constitution, http://www.lawton-constitution.com
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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