Kingfisher County’s small grain crop is thriving under cooler than usual late spring temperatures and adequate moisture conditions.

County OSU Extension Agricultural Educator Bryan Kennedy says the conditions may bring a later than usual harvest, however.

He estimated the harvest will begin around June 10, although he hedged his prediction by pointing out weather conditions can change the picture quickly.

“If we get some sunny weather and hot, dry wind that could all change,” he said.

Meanwhile, however, the wheat crop looks beautiful – green and beginning to subtly change shade day by day.

“Right now, everything looks ‘go’ for a good harvest,” he said.

The late freeze didn’t hurt as badly as it might have and disease and insect problems are at a minimum.

Weather is the determining factor as the crop matures.

Mother Nature always has the last say in the agriculture world, he pointed out.

“I hope we have no bad weather,” he said.

Kennedy said the county’s canola acreage is down from previous years due to uneconomical prices for the crop last year. The market has rebounded this spring, which could mean a larger canola acreage in another crop year.

Canola, which has the same growth and harvest pattern as wheat, has been a rotation crop to wheat in Oklahoma in recent years, allowing producers to clean fields of cheat and other noxious plants as well as diseases in fields dedicated to wheat for years.