By Don Atkinson, WheatSquared.com
Planted acres of wheat in Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska and Texas are reported as lower than expected.
“We have a lot of areas in this part of the country that likes to harvest their soybeans and then double-crop their wheat behind it,” Dave Green with the Wheat Quality Council said. “A lot of them were waiting for their milo or corn to come off before they planted their wheat this year and that just didn’t happen. We ended up with a lot of crops that are still standing even now. That’s pushed back these plans of planting more wheat. It’s now too late.”
Green said the average wheat planted acreage from Texas through Nebraska is about five to ten percent lower, even more so depending on where you look.
“There are a lot of areas where it’s a lot more than five or ten percent less (wheat planted acres) like North Central Kansas,” he said. “But there are areas like Southwest Kansas and Northeast Colorado where you hear that there were increases in wheat seedings. I don’t quite know how that’s going to turn out but there’s certainly not going to be as many wheat acres as everybody was thinking a few months ago.”
So why did plantings not match up with expectations? Mark Hodges with Plains Grains said it was too much moisture at the wrong time.
“We did have a lot of moisture and in many cases it was too much,” Hodges said. “But when it fell was just as significant. We received a lot of it in mid-to-late Fall when you’ve got cooler temperatures and shorter day lengths. You have less opportunities to get development of that plant when you put the seed in the ground.”
That heavy moisture and late planting has also limited grazing potential. As a result, harvested wheat acreage may end up being higher than normal.
“Obviously you have to have a plant that’s big enough with a strong enough root system underneath it so that it’s anchored,” Hodges said. “If there’s any grazing it would be mid-Spring. At that point they would have to either graze it out or reduce yields significantly. Realistically there’s probably not a lot of grazing going on so harvested acres and yields may be up.”
Wheat Squared is sponsored by the Oklahoma Wheat Commission and Oklahoma Genetics, Inc. Find us online at www.wheatsquared.com.
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