Oklahoma's Extreme Drought Has Wheat Farmers Bracing For Worst

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"What would you call that, high-shoe-top high?" he says. "In a normal year — a really good year — it'd be thigh-high. So we're looking at plants that are 6 to 8 inches tall versus 24 to 30 inches tall."

I thought that this was a good example. A little bit on down the article, it says that the Oklahoma folks usually do between 120 and 140 million bushels, and they're looking at maybe half that this year.

They're saying that a drought has a lot to do with it, it would seem, and I'm not too much looking forward to the fall and winter months. Looks like a lot of folks might be getting put on an involuntary diet.

a reply to: AnIntellectualRedneck

We just had about 6 inches of rain here. Doesn't end the drought, but puts a nice dent in it.

a reply to: ItCameFromOuterSpace

and expecting more,the farm reports on ktok are saying good wheat yield expected and the corn ,that is everywhere,is looking good.plus don't forget about the earthquake which will probably get a thread blaming fraking or Nibiru.

Well, even though the farm report says everything is good, I am going to go buy two 25# bags of flour tomorrow because it is reasonably cheap this week. I don't like paying two bucks a bag more, and we make most of our bread. It would only be buying about four months worth. We do have some reserves stored too, but this is just to combat a possible price increase. I have to buy another coffee too, it's on sale and I also got a buck off coupon which brings it down to five bucks a can.

Sound like more public fear with cries of shortage before the inflation hits again. Same thing happened to the meat right?
More and more people will be eating from the dollar menu out of cheapness.

This must be a local issue for Oklahoma not a global issue. The price of wheat has been dropping since it peaked in May, at least when looking at the wheat eft, weat. It's not good for local farmers but unless it starts affecting things on a bigger scale, I'm not sure how much it might affect prices. I heard global corn was plentiful this year. If that's a sign, wheat might be plentiful too. It seems like some farmers always have bad luck or they all have bad luck because prices drop a lot when harvests are really plentiful.

a reply to: ItCameFromOuterSpace

It is pretty bad this year. All I gotta do is go look at what used to be Waurika lake. Supposedly down to 40% capacity. Never in my life have I seen it so low. We've been getting some rain the past week or so at night, but not nearly enough to cause any runoff. My garden still hanging in there though, with the help of the hose.

Although, I'm not in contact with any wheat farmers, my area of the state has more cattle ranching than farmland. Hay sure has gone up in the last few years though. North TX sure seems to be hit harder than us so far though.

The issue of drought seems a serious and very much ongoing one I'm afraid. At least for us here in the Central and Western US. Winter was a downright frosty, messy pain in the butt. Summer sure makes up for it though.

US Drought Monitor

That site always has the latest national outlook, which has far more red and maroon than I like to see. However, that's as much ground water and precipitation as anything else. That can vary greatly by season and in just months worth of time for what I've watched. It looks nasty now, and has for quite some time. It may remain that way for years or improve in months.

However, there is another indicator that isn't so fickle or prone to the whims of weather and surface activity per say. Not short term anyway ..and it's almost all going the very wrong direction in Oklahoma.


(Oklahoma Ground Water Monitoring Wells)

We need to see some rise to that or it's circling a dry drain, so to speak. In some areas within the national drought map cover, some speak of bedrock not being far now from where they'd had to extend personal residential and rural wells. Those are the figures that make this bunny shiver in the summer, if only a bit at this point.