While the 2012 HRW wheat harvest did reach as far north as the Oklahoma/Texas border this past week rains and cooler weather have slowed harvesting to a near stop. A very few fields had been cut from the Waco area (south of Dallas) to just across the border into SW Oklahoma before the weather delay began. There has not been enough harvesting done to get a trend, but all kernel characteristics reported from all locations have been extremely wide ranging. Protein has also been highly variable, again with no trend developing. Wheat development is still some 2 to 3 weeks ahead of normal for most areas of the central and southern Great Plains.
Texas and Oklahoma producers are reporting yields on the few fields that have been cut to be in the 30 bushel per acre range with many fields expected to be significantly higher and lower as cutting continues.
Wheat producers in the Southern Plains were hit with very hot weather (100 degrees and higher in many locations) in late March when the plant was at peak water demand. Producers that had varieties which were already headed out and either pollinating, or had starting berry development (grainfill), are seeing the effects of those conditions in reduced yields, protein and in overall kernel characteristics.
| Tst | Exp | MST | Pro% | DKG | TKW | FN | Grade | Test | Weight | FM | DMG | S&B | DEF |
| 530 | |||||||||||||
| FINAL | 2011 | ||||||||||||
| 477 | final | 10.6 | 12.4 | .48 | 30.1 | 400 | 1HRW | 60.8 | 79.9 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 1.6 |
View this PDF for visual test data from the 2009 harvest.