Dry, cold weather continues to plague Kingfisher County’s 2022 wheat crop.

However, at this point there is still potential for a good harvest, County OSU Extension Director Bryan Kennedy said.

“What we don’t need are a series of brutally cold weather on it (the crop) without moisture,” Kennedy said.

He said at this point normally, producers would be applying nitrogen to their fields but the dry weather is holding them up, along with soaring crop input costs. Kennedy said fertilizer

Kennedy said fertilizer costs have tripled this year. “It’s an acknowledged

“It’s an acknowledged fact that nitrogen is necessary to put bushels in the bin,” he said.

However, he added, producers would be well advised to do soil tests before investing more heavily at this point.

He said a couple of recent soil tests revealed available fertilizer already in the soil just waiting on moisture to use it.

“A big snow or good rain at this point would be wonderful,” he said.

According to the last Oklahoma Crop Progress and Condition report of 2021, the state’s winter wheat crop condition is 48% good to excellent, 36% fair and 16% poor to very poor. At this time, the state’s winter wheat is 96% emerged, 1 point ahead of this time last year and 2 points ahead of the five-year average.

USDA’s last weekly Crop Progress report of 2021 shows the nation’s winter wheat crop condition is 44% good to excellent, 33% fair and 23% poor to very poor. 92% of U.S. winter wheat has emerged, on track with this time last year and 1 point ahead of the fiveyear average.

The dry winter – .15 inch in December and .02 inch thus far in January (at the National Weather Service station in Kingfisher) – has affected stocker calf operators particularly.

Cattle numbers are down but the market is strong, Kennedy said.

“I’ve seen gains sticking with the cattle,” he added, likely the result of the drier forage conditions.

The challenge for producers now is to stay on top on the situation so that they’ll be able to respond quickly to whatever Mother Nature provides for them as the year advances.

Kennedy said earlier that producers face one of their most challenging crop years in history due to exploding input costs – from fuel to fertilizer, inflation on every point – despite potential market price increases for small grain crops.

Kennedy reported he had inspected some wheat within the past week, which showed healthy root structure and indication the plants were tillering appropriately.