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Joe Wertz

Joe was a founding reporter for StateImpact Oklahoma (2011-2019) covering the intersection of economic policy, energy and environment, and the residents of the state. He previously served as Managing Editor of Urban Tulsa Weekly, as the Arts & Entertainment Editor at Oklahoma Gazette and worked as a Staff Writer for The Oklahoman. Joe was a weekly arts and entertainment correspondent for KGOU from 2007-2010. He grew up in Bartlesville, Okla. and studied journalism at the University of Central Oklahoma.

  • Brothers Fred and Wayne Schmedt run a wheat farm in southwest Oklahoma. They say their wheat stalks are about a third as tall as usual.
    Oklahoma's Extreme Drought Has Wheat Farmers Bracing For Worst
    Joe Wertz
    Four years of crippling drought has withered the agricultural economies of Great Plains states like Oklahoma. The USDA forecasts this year's wheat crop will be half what it would be in a good year.
  • As Oklahoma Drought Continues, Farmers Prepare For Losses
    Joe Wertz
    As Oklahoma enters its fourth year of sustained drought, some farmers expect the harvest to be so bad they'll end up calling their insurance agents and declaring this year a total loss. StateImpact Oklahoma's Joe Wertz reports that some are calling this the worst drought since the '50s — or even since the Dust Bowl.
  • A Sharp Rise In Earthquakes Puts Oklahomans On Edge
    Joe Wertz
    For the past three decades, the state averaged about 50 quakes a year. Last year, there were almost 3,000. Some geologists say the state's oil and gas industry might be to blame for the increase.
  • A Dust Bowl farmer digs out a fence post to keep it from being buried under drifting sand in Cimarron County, Okla., in 1936.
    Dust Bowl Worries Swirl Up As Shelterbelt Buckles
    Joe Wertz
    When the swirling, howling winds of the 1930s Dust Bowl gobbled up farmland from Texas to the Dakotas, the federal government planted 100 million trees to act like a giant windbreak. It worked. But now, after years of drought, those old trees are dying.
  • Thirsty States Take Water Battle To Supreme Court
    Joe Wertz
    Texas and Oklahoma are fighting over access to the Red River. Fast-growing Texas is eager to fuel its expansion in a time of drought, while the poorer state of Oklahoma is water-rich. The court's decision could impact interstate water-sharing agreements across the country.
  • In Oklahoma, Republicans Take Two Views Toward Taxes
    Joe Wertz
    On Tuesday, Tulsa County, Okla., residents vote on ballot measures that would extend a sales tax hike to fund economic development and public works projects. The Republican mayor and local GOP officials — in one of the reddest states in the country — are asking voters to say yes to the taxes.