Ticker for March 3, 2010

                
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The release of the latest volume of the "Agweather Connection" newsletter was
just announced by Mesonet Ag Extension Associate Laura Martin:

http://agweather.mesonet.org/agconnection/issues/march_2010.pdf

The first story in the newsletter titled "Oklahoma's Wet Wheat" details the
problems faced by wheat farmers due to our cold and wet winter.

Many of us don't give much thought to where the food we put on our table
comes from. It doesn't grow on trees, ya know! Errrrr ... never mind. Anyway,
those of us that have sat in a wheat truck with the windows down on a sultry
June afternoon as a combine filled up the bed with wheat and deposited half a
ton of chaff into the cab and your eyes (AND while you miss your beloved
Los Angeles Lakers playing the first game of the NBA finals against the Detroit
Pistons and that jerk Bill Laimbeer!) sometimes forget as well. But imagine the
tough job faced by the American farmer and rancher whose livelihood is so
dependent upon the vagaries of Mother Nature. One need look no further
than the weather over the last few years and how that has affected the Oklahoma
wheat farmer.

The winter of 2005-06 saw the beginnings of a significant drought and a terrible
fire season for the state, with hundreds of thousands of acres being lost to
wildfires. The drought devastated the 2006 wheat crop, which ended up
being about 70 million bushels or so, or about 50% of average.

The 2007 wheat harvest faced several problems put forth by Oklahoma's climate.
First, our warmest March on record caused rapid maturation of the wheat crop.
That was soon followed by our 8th-coolest April. In fact, based on the
statewide averages, March was warmer than April! So wheat that was prematurely,
uh, mature, was met by freezing temperatures and was therefore damaged. However,
the crop looked as late as May to be a whopper with a very wet and warm spring
providing excellent growing conditions. The trouble is, it didn't stop
raining. The moisture allowed for an explosion of wheat diseases such as
rust and powdery mildew. And it kept raining. Muddy fields and large farm
implements don't mix well, and a lot of the wheat that escaped the disease
problems was never harvested due to lack of access. Of the 5.9 million acres
planted during the fall of 2006, only 3.5 million acres was harvested for a
final production of 98 million bushels, still well below average.

Finally, 2008 brought the right combination of conditions to produce
a harvest of 166.5 million bushels. Farm communities rejoiced and prayed for
similar conditions the next year. Unfortunately, Mother Nature did not
cooperate.

The winter of 2009 was once again dry which hurt the crop, and in a repeat of
2007, a very warm February and March period was followed soon after by another
cool April and two particularly damaging cold-air outbreaks. Those two killer
frosts did a great amount of damage, and the 2009 wheat crop ended at about
77 million bushels, the third dismal year out of four for many Oklahoma wheat
farmers.

Not only are those farmers livelihoods affected, but so are the economies of
the local community that depend on those farmers having money to spend. The
effects on the local economy filters into the state's economy as a whole.
In addition, poor harvests (all farming and ranching commodities can be used
as examples)lead to higher prices for consumers.

Now we see from the story in "Agweather Connection" that the cold and wet winter
of 2009-10 has already caused a few problems for the current wheat crop.
The cold weather caused some winter kill, and the excess moisture in the
southern parts of the state meant root systems didn't need to dig very deep to
find adequate moisture, so they are a bit shallower than desired.

What's the final story for the 2010 wheat crop, and the outcome for Oklahoma's
wheat farmers? Easy. Just figure out what the weather is going to be like
through the last day of harvest and you have your answer. Then imagine you are
a wheat farmer and that is what paying your mortgage and putting food on your
own family's table is dependent upon.

If you should happen to meet one of Oklahoma's ag producers, shake their hand
and tell 'em "thanks for hanging in there." They'll appreciate it.

To learn more about the Mesonet's efforts to aid Oklahoma's ag producers,
please visit the Agweather website at

http://agweather.mesonet.org/

Our Mesonet colleagues from Oklahoma State ... Al Sutherland, Maggie Hoey, and
Laura Martin do a lot of great work which is reflected in that site.

Gary McManus
Associate State Climatologist
Oklahoma Climatological Survey
(405) 325-2253