The USDA Small Grains Report showed a little more than 108 million bushels were produced during the 2024 Oklahoma hard red winter wheat crop, compared to last year’s 68.6 million bushels. Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays got the rundown from Oklahoma Wheat Commission’s Mike Schulte.
“We saw a ten bushel per acre yield increase, and we also had more harvested acreage this year at 2.8 million acres compared to 2.4 million acres the year before,” Schulte said.
Wheat yields also increased across the United States and given the political climate worldwide and the exports from other countries, the large volume of wheat has been more challenging to market.
“We have had some challenges with being competitive in the export market,” Schulte admitted. “I think we are seeing the market react to some things that are going on globally. As we know, drought situations in Russia and Eastern Europe are returning.”
He said that due to the return of drought, Russia will be scaling back its export pace. Simultaneously in Australia, private analysts predict a reduced wheat crop in their region as well.
“If that starts coming into the market with reports, it will have an impact on our ability to be more competitive in the global export market,” Schulte stated.
Rail shipments to Mexico have been challenging as well. “We are working through those, so they have trains moving back into those regions, now. That has increased our opportunity to market in that region,” Schulte said. “I am hopeful that towards the end of the year, we will have some marketing opportunities that we haven’t had over the past three or four months.”
Looking ahead, Schulte is excited about the new greenhouses being planned for the Oklahoma State University Agronomy Research Station which should begin breaking ground soon. The start of construction being so near the unveiling of the new Agricultural Hall facility, which includes new laboratories, only adds to the excitement.
He said, “When I went on my tour with Dr. Brett Carver and Dr. Amanda Silva and they showed me the new laboratory, it was exciting to see just how far we are going to be able to make advancements on things that we couldn’t do because we didn’t have the facilities to do them in.”
They will be working on increasing the health options for consumers through the promotion of high-fiber wheat and high-anti-oxidant wheat. Marketing plans will be detailed to show that these options fight cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.
“Specifically, when an individual reaches the ages of sixty to sixty-five, more than half of the population in the southern plains have at least one of those two ailments,” Schulte related. “We will also be doing long-term strategic planning with our national organization, U.S. Wheat Associates, and also at a state level, with Oklahoma Genetics Incorporated, Oklahoma Foundation Seed, the Oklahoma Wheat Commission, and Oklahoma Wheat Growers to look at a five-year plan.”
Planning will be centered on what can be done differently to better market wheat and research to find different uses for it.
