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Farmers, Crops Endure at Hands of Mother Nature

Posted on: Wednesday, 17 August 2005, 18:00 CDT

Aug. 17--Farmers statewide have received more than 1 inch above normal rainfall this summer, but for many crops, the rain came too late and has left those waiting to plant winter crops only hoping the rain will keep falling.

Corn and soybeans are set to be harvested in the next few weeks, but Tommy Pickard, superintendent at Oklahoma State University's Eastern Extension Station in Haskell, said the rain came too late to help crops that had already been damaged by one of the driest springs on record.

In addition to predicting a poor year for the area's corn and soybean crops, Pickard said this year's hay production has been down anywhere from a half to a third of what farmers cut last year.

He said though the central and north eastern portions of the state have seen increased moisture this summer, the rain has been sporadic and unpredictable -- not weather that many farmers welcome in a business so closely tied with Mother Nature.

From June 1 to Aug. 15, the state received 1.17 inches above normal rainfall, according to the Oklahoma Climatological Survey. The south-central region of the state has seen the most rainfall, recording 3.43 inches above normal, while the southeast is the only region reporting depressed rainfall, at 4.65 inches below average. The southeast has not seen a drier summer since 1980, the survey says.

Rebecca Breeden, a program technician for USDA farm services in Atoka, said the crop grown most widely in southeast Oklahoma is hay, and she describes this year's season as "horrible." Farmers in the area can typically hope for several cuttings in a season, she said, but this year, many farmers have yet to cut any hay.

"Hay is looking pretty bad this year," she said. "We are already halfway through August (without rain). I am not sure they could get another cutting in now or not. It depends on how long it stays warm."

Though many wheat farmers won't plant their crops until September and October -- and will need good soil moisture during planting for an optimal crop -- Oklahoma Wheat Commission Executive Director Mark Hodges said a farmer will never talk badly of a summer rain. In fact, with all of the moisture this month, he said many farmers may start planting their crop as soon as the ground dries up, weeks earlier than usual, to take advantage of the additional moisture.

"The weather between now and then could dry up, get sunny and the top moisture could dry out," he said. "So really, anytime after the first of September that they have the moisture, they will plant."

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Source: The Daily Oklahoman

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