Wheat producers in Southwest Oklahoma are hoping for one more good rain and a crop much better than they’ve seen in several years.

Across the state, conditions are mixed as farmers near harvest.

“We’ve just started crop tours,” says Oklahoma State University Extension Small Grains Specialist Amanda de Oliveira Silva, Stillwater.

“Wheat near Altus looks good,” Silva says. “We’ve seen some stripe rust that came in earlier than usual, but overall the crop looks good. Wheat in the Northwestern part of the state does not look good. Some fields started off good but are going backwards. It’s dry; they need rain.”

‘Hit or miss’ wheat conditions

Silva says wheat in West Oklahoma, near Sentinel and some other parts of the state, is in a “hit or miss” situation. Wheat that received the latest rains looks good, but there is some that missed a lot of rain, so we see short wheat, thinner stands, and some damage from early-season stripe rust infestation. Overall, I think we are in a much better shape than we were the past two years, but we could still use some rain, especially on the West, the Northwest, and North Central areas.”

She says acres for harvest likely will be down from earlier expectations as there were some people that had the field disastered out or are grazing out the wheat. I thought in early spring, we could have a bumper crop, but as conditions get drier in some places, yields will not be as high as we thought. Next week, at the Oklahoma Grain and Feed Association annual meeting, we will have harvest estimates from each region.

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“We’re better than last year, but we’re off from a month ago as conditions get drier and storm chances with possible hail damage increases in some regions.”

Stripe rust

Stripe rust came in earlier than usual at around wheat jointing stage, Silva says.

“Farmers sprayed fungicide early for stripe rust. I’ve heard that as much as 90% of the wheat in Southwest Oklahoma was sprayed for stripe rust. That’s atypical, but we had a lot of it.

“A big issue was that most of the wheat varieties grown in Oklahoma do not have seedling resistance against stripe rust, they only have the adult plant resistance (and not all varieties have the adult plant resistance either). So, what happens is that the adult plant resistance genes only get turned on after flag leaf stage. As stripe rust came in earlier than that, the genes were not activated and could not protect the plant.

Resistance comparison: The plot on the left is damaged by stripe rust next to a plot with a variety showing better resistance. (Photo by Amanda De Oliveira Silva)

“We have seen a lot of damage in Southwest Oklahoma. Some varieties have performed better than others.”

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Conditions that favor good wheat growth also favor rust, she adds.

English grain aphids

OSU Extension IPM Coordinator Ashleigh Faris says she’s seen some English grain aphids in some areas. “They are not typically economically important in Oklahoma, but they can transmit the barley dwarf virus, so it is worth paying attention to them in the field.

“The other ones we’re seeing are the bird cherry oat aphids. Numbers are low though, and every time I see these aphids, I’m also seeing a lot of natural enemies. So we’re seeing lady beetle larvae and lady beetle adults, and they’re all pretty voracious.”

Faris says considering crop maturity and natural predation, growers shouldn’t need to spray these pests. “The good news is the natural enemies are helping to manage the aphid populations.

“Some areas are still holding up yield potential,” Silva says. “Wheat at Apache, in South Central Oklahoma, looks great. Chickasha looks great.

“I think the main lesson for producers this year will be stripe rust resistance. We’re seeing one of the heaviest stripe rust pressures we have seen in a long time. Now, as it starts getting drier and drier, that’s another story.”

Silva says that if the weather conditions remain warm, many wheat farmers will harvest early, but cool temperatures should help the wheat slowly down and properly fill the grain. Southwest Oklahoma farmers are especially excited. They have not seen a crop like this in a long time. We all need a win.”

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After landing three wide receivers via the transfer portal during the first open window of the offseason, South Carolina added two more potential playmakers during the post-spring opening in Dalevon Campbell and Vandrevius Jacobs.

Now, those additions are one step closer to being official.

“They signed their stuff this week,” head coach Shane Beamer said Tuesday night at the Spartanburg stop on the Welcome Home Tour. “Get them in here in a couple weeks and see how they can help us.”

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The 6-foot-4, 218-pound Campbell tallied 69 receptions for 1,053 Yards and three touchdowns during the last two seasons combined at Nevada. He has one year of eligibility left and brings added size to a position that isn’t heavy on it.

“With Dalevon, he’s a guy that has played a lot of football, been very productive as a player,” Beamer said. “We were looking after spring practice to try to add a little bit more size to that room. He’s a big receiver as well, and he’ll certainly help us there. He’s a veteran guy.”

Jacobs, a former four-star prospect who redshirted as a freshman last year, is an intriguing player in that he has a full four years of eligibility left.

He caught three passes for 60 yards and a touchdown last season with Florida State and was still able to maintain his redshirt status.

“He’s a guy that highly recruited to come into high school, and he can run. And that’s what we like,” Beamer said. “He’s still young. I like the fact that he’s still got four more years of college as well.”

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The two newcomers will soon join a receiving corps that continues to be wide open as the Gamecocks look to replace most of last year’s production.

“Really, all we know about (the portal additions) right now is talking to high school coaches, talking to their coaches where they came from, spending time with them when they came in on a visit, watching their tape that they had going into this season,” Beamer said. “We’ll find out even more about him once they get on campus. But two great young men. Really enjoyed visiting with when they were here on visits and excited about how they can just continue to add to the overall depth and competition in that receiver room.”

My wife and I recently visited Nashville. She had never been to Nashville before. I’d been there a few times, but it had been a while and we wanted us to attend the Grand Ole Opry among other opportunities, so off we went. It turned out to be one of our better trips.

Nashville is the capital of Tennessee and is its largest city with over two million in population. The Grand Ole Opry is northeast of the downtown area and is right next to a mall called Opry Mills. (The old location of the Opry is the Ryman Auditorium which is downtown. You can tour the Ryman.) Very briefly, the show we saw at the Opry was outstanding. Even if you are not a country music fan, all the acts were excellent and we got the see Ricky Skaggs and Vince Gill. The Opry is truly a piece of Americana. I would also recommend taking the backstage tour if you get a chance. The different rooms where the performers stay are interesting and you get to go on stage and get your picture taken.

There are plenty of other sightseeing options in the area. If you are a history enthusiast a visit to The Hermitage, Andrew Jackson’s home, is a must. Jackson had a number of concerning actions as president, but I was reminded of the importance of his presidency by one of the displays in the visitor center. It reviewed how presidents were chosen before 1828 and what changed from 1824. (The 1824 election was controversial because John Quincy Adams won the presidency despite losing the popular vote.) Specifically, “Between 1824 and 1828, laws governing presidential elections changed as more states allowed voters to directly elect the electors and a greater number of eligible voters decided to cast ballots.” Too long to go into here on presidential election history, but the key point was Jackson was considered a people’s president and represented the “common man.” (Quiz for the history buffs: What do Andrew Jackson, Samuel Tilden, Grover Cleveland, Al Gore, and Hillary Clinton have in common?)

We also visited Civil War locations in Franklin, which is about 20 miles south of Nashville. The November 1864 battle at Franklin was a disaster for the Confederates and was particularly bloody. According to the American Battlefield Trust, “The scale of the charge at Franklin rivaled that of Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg.” There are two locations (among several possible) I recommend you visit from the conflict. The first is the Carter House, which was in the middle of the battle. Incredibly, Captain Tod Carter, who grew up there, was in the Confederate Army and was mortally wounded during the battle about 200 yards from his home. He was brought to the house and died in the parlor.

The other location I highly recommend visiting is Carnton Plantation. Carnton was one of the premier farms in middle Tennessee and was on the eastern flank of the battle. The home and grounds around the home were used as a hospital afterward. The home was completely inundated with wounded—literally every floor was covered. You can still see the blood stains on the floors. Six Confederate generals died in the battle and four were laid out on the back porch of the home for soldiers to file past and pay respects. Right next to the home is the family cemetery and the McGavock Confederate Cemetery, the final resting place for about 1,500 killed during the battle.

See www.boft.org, the Battle of Franklin Trust website, for specifics on how to visit.

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Doug McCormick is retired from the Air Force after spending 21 years as a space operator. He spent 14 years as a defense contractor supporting Air Force Space Command. He is now a tour guide and has started his own business, American History Tours, LLC, specializing in taking people to see locations associated with significant American history. His email address is doug@historytoursamerica.com.