This year's wheat crop had it challenges in Oklahoma, but looks like it will survive them

Some years he's waded through thick fields of plants with heads full of grain. In others, he could see his boots among the wheat that did exist.

Mark Hodges is the executive director of Plains Grains Inc./Oklahoma Genetics Inc., focusing on the wheat industry.

He said last year certainly fell in the “other years” category.

As for this year's crop?

It has potential to be in the “some years.” But Hodges and other wheat industry experts have experienced way too many harvests to call this one early. Harvest has started in some areas, but not for most.

“While we would expect higher than average yields under these conditions,” Hodges said, “Jim Shroyer a Kansas State University agronomist, Eufaula native and Oklahoma State University graduate, has said throughout the years, ‘It's a long ways 'til harvest and a lot of things can happen, and none of them are good.'

“To say we have our fingers crossed would be an understatement.”

This year's crop has experienced a tale of two seasons, Hodges said. On the front end, In the fall the state was coming off a devastating drought with powder dry conditions in much of Oklahoma.

“So we planted most of this crop in the dust,” Hodges said.

“Then came one of the wettest late October/early Novembers I can remember for total rainfall and it all came perfectly slow. That was enough to not just germinate the crop. Then we had the La Nina-effect warm weather.

“It was not just warm days, the unusual part was warm nights. So the wheat plant just never shut down all winter, we were able to put down a good root system and put on lots of tillers.”