State wheat crop estimate rebounds
Officials predict 149 million bushels in 2008 harvest
State wheat crop estimate rebounds

By Jim Stafford

Published: May 8, 2008

The Oklahoma Grain and Feed Association drew on the collective wisdom of grain elevator operators from across the state Wednesday and estimated Oklahoma wheat farmers will harvest 149 million bushels this year.

The first unofficial estimate of the potential of the state's largest grain crop was made at the annual meeting of the association at the Oklahoma City Marriot Hotel.

About 60 people heard wheat condition reports from nine people that represent different geographic areas of the state. The group, which includes most of the state's grain elevator operators, collected harvest estimates from each of its members and produced an estimate of the total harvested acres and per-acre yield for 2008.

"That number was 4.7 million acres harvested with a yield of 31.7 bushels per acre,” said Mark Hodges, executive director of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission, who attended the meeting. "If you multiply those two together you come up with 149 (million) bushels projected.”

The numbers appear somewhat optimistic to Hodges, who has toured most of the wheat producing areas of the state.

"My estimate isn't quite that high,” Hodges said. "That's a per bushel yield that I'm not comfortable with.

"But I certainly hope the production ends up being that high. (Hodges' perspective) is tainted somewhat by what I've seen around the state. I just don't think the average bushel per acre yield is going to be quite that high.”

Last year's wheat crop of 98 million bushels was stunted by both a late freeze in April and unrelenting rain during harvest.

It was the second consecutive year that the state wheat harvest was reduced by adverse weather conditions.

The Grain and Feed Association estimate is at the low end of what agronomist Dale Fain projected Wednesday.

Fain, a former agronomist with Oklahoma State University and now a consultant for Johnston Grain of Enid, projected the crop in a range from 150 million bushels to 180 million.

The current price of grain will encourage most farmers to harvest virtually everything that was planted, Fain said. U.S. Department of Agriculture statisticians have estimated that 5.7 million acres of wheat were planted.

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