Oklahoma Wheat Crop 'Worst In Decades'

Oklahoma’s wheat crop for 2009, coming after a barrage of droughts, freezes and heavy rains, is turning out to be what one farmer called the worst in the state since 1955.

Farmers in northern Oklahoma wrapped up harvests this week and some farmers in the Panhandle are still cutting grain, but few are happy with the yields.

A heavy freeze in early April finished off most of the crop in southwestern Oklahoma and badly damaged acreage in the state’s midsection. In addition to that, many parts of Oklahoma received heavy rains in April and May.

“We’re probably going to get less than half the wheat this year as last,” said Mike Schulte, the executive director of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission. “It was a tough year to be growing.”