This summer’s heat wave is creating challenges for Oklahoma’s food and fiber producers. A quick check of Oklahoma Farm Bureau’s Harvest Watch blog shows triple digit temperatures combined with drought conditions are frustrating efforts.
“We are having a real long dry spell,” writes Kenneth Fisher, Bristow. “We got good spring rains, but now everything is turning brown. Somehow the corn is going to make only a partial crop.”
For the Webb family ranch at Canton, there is a feeling of déjà vu.
“I hope we are not in for a repeat of last summer,” writes Brandon Webb. “100 degree days are far too familiar. We abandoned plans to plant 450 acres of milo (grain sorghum) because I just don’t think we have the moisture to risk the expense.”
Webb writes of the unfortunate consequences of drought – wildfires.
“With things getting so dry, the threat of fires is becoming more prevalent. We helped our neighbor move hay bales out of the path of a wildfire on July 4th. He lost one of the stacks (of hay bales) but the others were spared.”
On the Greg Leonard family farm at Afton, memories of last year’s drought are also starting to resurface.
“Our corn has already been severely damaged, Leonard said. “The best we can hope for now is about 60 percent of a normal yield. High winds combined with the heat are literally cooking the corn. The root system can’t pull enough moisture up to the plant because of the heat. You can see more leaves turning brown every day.”
In southwest Oklahoma, hot, dry winds have parched the earth but Zach Harris said the crops on his farm near Hobart are putting up a stubborn fight against Mother Nature.
“A decent chance of some much needed rain in the forecast would be a huge blessing in many ways,” Harris said. “It would get the alfalfa, cotton, and grass a lot further down the road towards making a crop. “
You can follow these farm families’ journey throughout the 2012 growing on Oklahoma Farm Bureau’s Harvest Watch Blog at www.okfarmbureau.org.
“We encourage everyone, especially teachers and their students, to follow the weekly posts on our harvest watch blog,” Mike Spradling, OFB President said. “This is a good way to learn about food and fiber production and to understand the daily struggles and triumphs these families deal with in order to feed and clothe the world.”
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