Reuters
Freeze damage a concern for U.S. HRW wheat crop
Tuesday April 13, 12:55 pm ET
By Carey Gillam
KANSAS CITY, Mo., April 13 (Reuters) - Freezing temperatures overnight in the Plains states could have done damage to the new hard red winter wheat crop, wheat experts said on Tuesday.
With many fields throughout Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas in the highly vulnerable jointing stage, the temperature slide to well below the freezing point of 32 degrees Fahrenheit likely hurt many fields, agronomists and farmers said.
"We may have a big problem as of last night because of the freeze," said Texas Wheat Producers executive vice president Rodney Mosier.
But it will take several days before the amount of damage can be ascertained, Mosier and others said.
"It's hard to say right now," said Kansas State University extension agronomist Roger Stockton. "Usually it takes about a week for the head to deteriorate enough ... for us to tell it's been killed."
Some fields that were further along in development and consequently more vulnerable most certainly got hurt, while fields with more protective soil moisture and lagging in development probably escaped trouble, Stockton said.
Meteorlogix forecaster Mike Palmerino said temperatures of 19 degrees Fahrenheit were recorded in Liberal and Garden City, Kansas, in the southwest part of Kansas, which is the largest U.S. wheat producing state. Temperatures ranging from 22-25 degrees were recorded from Amarillo, Texas, into northern Oklahoma, Palmerino said.
Southwest Kansas producer Larry Kepley said he recorded temperatures as low as 18 degrees overnight.
"My thermometer at 3 a.m. this morning was down to 20; at 5:30 this morning it was 18 degrees," Kepley said.
The freeze was the subject of much talk among wheat producers this morning in his community, Kepley said.
"We can worry about it but there isn't much we can do. We're just waiting to see (if there is damage)," he said.
According to a weekly crop condition report issued Monday afternoon, more than half of the new crop in southwest Kansas is jointing, a point at which the temperature-sensitive head of the wheat is being formed inside the stalk.
Statewide, an estimated 49 percent of the crop was jointed, according to the Kansas weekly crop report. In Texas, 16 percent of the crop was well past the boot state, already heading, while in Oklahoma, 93 percent of the crop was jointed. |
