The overnight freeze could have a significant impact on Oklahoma’s wheat crop, which already is suffering from the prolonged drought.

The western half of the state — the main wheat-producing area — was in a hard freeze warning issued by National Weather Service from 1 to 9 a.m. today.

“At this point, I’m not very optimistic,” said Tim Bartram, executive director of Oklahoma Wheat Growers Association. “There is some ability to recover, but with the moisture where we’re at, the possibility of significant damage is pretty possible.”

What damage is suffered by the crop from the freeze probably won’t be apparent for another week to 10 days, Bartram said.

Jeff Bedwell, Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service ag educator for Major County, said the area’s wheat crop already has lost a “considerable amount of yield potential” because of the lack of rain.

A report from U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service bears that out. NASS listed only 14 percent of Oklahoma’s wheat crop in good condition in its report released Monday. Another 32 percent was listed in fair condition, while the remaining 54 percent was listed in poor or very poor condition.

“Southwest Oklahoma, it doesn’t matter,” Bartram said about the affects of the freeze on the wheat crop there. “It was finished by the 90 degree heat and the 30-40 mph winds this weekend.”

The freeze is “just another nail in the coffin down there,” he said.

Late freezes damaging the wheat crop are nothing new to area farmers. Last year, a freeze in mid-April reduced the crop, while the crop in 2009 “was decimated,” Bedwell said. Last year’s crop was helped by more favorable weather after the freeze — mainly rain and mild temperatures — which helped minimize the damage, he said.

Much of this year’s wheat crop, though, already is thin because of the drought, Bedwell said, and conditions get worse as you go farther west.

The freeze also could have an impact on canola, another major crop in northwest Oklahoma.

Statewide, the canola crop also is suffering from the drought. According to NASS, only 7 percent of the crop was in good condition, while 24 percent was in fair shape. The other 69 percent was listed in poor or very poor condition, according to NASS.

As with the wheat crop, the freeze damage that could be suffered by canola in the area will just add to the issues already caused by the drought, Bedwell said.

The drought has impacted the growth of the canola plants, which don’t have as many blooms as they normally would, he said. The freeze could kill those blooms, which means the plants then won’t produce pods, which in turn is where the canola seeds are produced.

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