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High Plains wheat crop shows effects of mid-April freeze

The impact of the mid-April freeze in the southern High Plains region is starting to show up in the hard red winter wheat crop.

“In the Oklahoma area, we’re picking up maybe 20 percent of the heads that may be dead in some of these plants,” says John Hecht, who is with the Kansas-based crop consulting firm CropQuest. “Where I’m at, in the Wichita area, we really don’t see very much freeze damage at this point. But as you go to the northwest part of the state and southwest part of the state, we’re picking up as much as 50 to 70 percent of the heads being dead, in places.”

Hecht says the crop in those areas is also starting to suffer from a lack of moisture. 

Despite the damage that’s been done, Hecht says the crop still has the potential to develop secondary tillers and could still produce good yields.

Hecht was part of wheat webinar sponsored by Planalytics.