Light showers and cooler temperatures reached Kingfi sher County Monday.

Kingfisher Weather Observer Steve Loftis reported a total of .4 inch at the National Weather Service Station in Kingfisher.

Monday’s rain was “terrifi c” for the county’s wheat growers, County Extension Director/Agricultural Educator Bryan Kennedy surmised.

While dry conditions delayed crop development of what growers had hoped would be an excellent wheat pasture season, “it will help those who already have wheat up in their fields and it’s perfect for grain-only farmers (those who don’t graze stocker cattle),” Kennedy said.

“Those who grow wheat only for harvest will possibly be able to get a few more weeds up and plow them under before putting in the new crop,” he said.

Those who sowed early are benefitted by having the chance to get pasture earlier on their land.

While the early prospects for wheat production are improving, the price for the grain ($4.10 a bushel) isn’t enough for profitability, especially for someone starting in the business, Kennedy added.

Kennedy said America has taught the rest of the world how to grow grain and now other countries don’t need American grain and, in fact, are competing for grain sales.

“Go back just 10 years and look at the increase in yields now,” he commented.

“New varieties continue to appear, which make 70-bushels-per-acre yields not too unusual,” he said.

Increased disease and freeze resistance in the newer varieties also boosts the yield potential.

Kennedy estimated that between 30 to 40% of the county’s small grain acreage has been sown to date.

Cooler weather is a plus. Mid-October is normally the ideal time to sow wheat in the majority of Oklahoma, including Kingfisher County.

Those who dusted in their crops and had enough moisture to bring the plants to a stand are in good shape, Kennedy said. Planting winter wheat in November leaves less time for the crop to develop tillers and roots, which could affect yield potential.

Kennedy said he hasn’t heard of any new outbreaks of army worm infestations recently.

Heavy army worm numbers were reported countywide earlier.

Meanwhile, prices for stocker cattle, which a number of county producers normally buy to graze small grain fields, continued to soar with prices up to $2,400 a head, creating tricky conditions for stockers.

Wheat is an excellent forage for cattle, allowing stockmen to graze cow-calf herds during the winter months and then harvest the fields for grain.

It has been reported feedlots, eager to maintain numbers, have been buying into the stocker numbers despite more health problems, adding more competition for the stocker calf numbers.