For the past five years, wheat crops have not been plentiful.The drought has made the farmer's saying "feast or famine" ring true and it looks like the famine could definitely continue this year too.

Wayne Conrady says his wheat farm has a new glow after the past weekend's rain.

“Everything has really bloomed up, the field we are standing in now the color was not there. It was a lot more of a blue color because of the drought and the big infestation we had,” he said.

But, Conrady says that rain is not enough to make this year's crop a profitable one.

He says he's hoping to maybe break even.

Experts say a good crop in Texoma averages 20 to 30 bushels of wheat per acre, a number Conrady says he won't be close to seeing this year.

“Talking to insurance adjusters who have gone through these wheat fields they are calling yield average way below normal, some of them even as low as a bushel and a half to two bushels per acre,” said Justin Gilliam, the Archer County Agrilife Extension Agent.

Conrady says he'll feed many of his steers and his cousin's dairy cattle after he cuts and bales the wheat.

He says the cattle love this wheat's fine stems.

But as for business, he believes this year's crop will leave his hay room empty, just like the past several years.

With a poor wheat crop, that means the high cattle prices will remain meaning grocery prices that have begun to creep up will stay as well.

Source - http://www.texomashomepage.com/