Winter Wheat Pasture: Better Late Than Never?
11/06/2009 03:18PM
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I am not sure you can say that September weather was like November but so far it seems that we are having September in November in Oklahoma. After an unusually wet and cold September and October, the weather has finally dried out and warmed up. Much of the state has not yet had a freeze and it appears unlikely to freeze in the next several days. Wheat planting is still behind schedule and some producers are just now finishing up planting, some of which was intended to be planted in September. Overall, wheat stands are highly variable with the wheat that was planted early very big with good stands (except where pests have taken a toll) to just planted or barely emerged wheat.
This leads to the question of whether it is too late for wheat grazing. The answer will depend to a large extent on producer decisions about whether to harvest grain. In some parts of the state wheat is grown primarily for forage most years and those producers will certainly buy stocker calves for grazing through the end of the year and into January if necessary, depending on when the wheat is ready for grazing. For other producers wheat graze-out is a year by year decision that is sometime not made until late February or early March when first hollow stem stage forces the choice between grain and grazing. However, this year, a late start to winter grazing likely means that some producers will not have enough days to make dual-purpose wheat feasible and the decision to graze now also involves a choice to go ahead plan for graze-out next spring. Some producers may take a bit of a wait and see attitude before deciding to buy stockers. However, the fact that the wheat is finally in the ground and fields and corrals are drying up likely means that stocker buying will pick up from now until Thanksgiving. Moreover, the current state of the wheat (grain) market makes graze-out a definite possibility for some producers.
Feeder prices have finally stabilized in general and stocker prices in particular have shown a bit of strength the past two weeks. We are in the middle of the fall run of calves and available stocker numbers will decrease as we move into December. Delayed stocker cattle demand should help hold lightweight cattle prices through the end of the year and could provide more strength if demand picks up after the big fall run of calves is past. Despite the fact that much of the early promise of wheat pasture has fizzled, it still appears that we will have a large amount of wheat pasture and bigger numbers of cattle on wheat than the past two years.
Source: Derrell S. Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist