Hard Red Winter
Wheat harvest has started on a very limited basis in central Texas and should be in full swing in that area by early next week unless slowed by rain expected over the weekend. Harvest is expected to begin in the next week to ten days on the Texas/Oklahoma border and extend into southwestern Oklahoma. First samples are not expected in the lab until the latter part of the first week of June at the earliest.
Major parts of the 2014 HRW crop have faced challenging growing conditions which have sharply reduced yields. A multi-year drought encompasses most of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and southeastern Colorado. A hard freeze struck areas of Texas, Oklahoma and southern Kansas on April 15, a time when wheat was in its most cold sensitive stage. Additionally, April and May in those same states included several days of 95 to 103 degree (35 to 39 C) days, sustained high winds and humidity in the single digits. As a result many areas suffered even greater damage to already stressed plants. These factors have likely reduced yields in the affected areas by as much as 40% compared with last year’s crop, which itself was reduced by drought.
Wheat in states north and northwest of Kansas are still in good condition, but will likely not be able to make up for the production losses suffered by the southern and central Plains states.
Source : uswheat.org
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