‘Amazing’ Wheat: Stands Raise Prospects for Good Year

April 13th, 2017

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Category: Grains

Young man in wheat field 450x299(AgriNews) – Thanks to a mild and dry winter, Illinois wheat is heading into spring healthy and robust.

“We really dodged a bullet this winter. I’m pretty optimistic for this year’s crop. I think my wheat looks amazing for this time of year,” said Kevin Luthy.

He plants about one third of his Randolph County farm in wheat. That’s about 1,000 acres.

He’s also been successful with double-cropped soybeans. It’s also about this time of year that he sees some of his wheat laying down wet.

But not this year … so far.

National Agricultural Statistics Service staff reported that the winter wheat condition was rated 2 percent very poor, 4 percent poor, 22 percent fair, 59 percent good and 13 percent excellent. Winter wheat acreage statewide is down and stands at 480,000 acres, 8 percent less than last year.

This year’s wheat crop falls after a recording breaking state harvest of 34.78 million bushels in 2016. The top county producers were Washington with 2.98 million bushels, Randolph with 1.96 million bushels and Clinton with 1.74 million bushels.

A deadly freeze in late February and early March brought crop damage in southern Illinois to some peach trees and small fruits that had flowered early in response to unseasonably high temperatures in February.

The wheat stand had not matured far enough for any notable freeze damage like what happed in 2007 or 2011, Luthy recalled. He had ended up aborting his whole 2007 planting.

“We dodged a bullet two weeks ago with temperatures in the teens in southern Illinois. It looks like Illinois’ wheat was not harmed by the colder temperatures. The same can’t be said for farmers further south (Kentucky) where their wheat was further along, and there was some obvious frost damage,” said Jim Fraley, Illinois Wheat Association executive director.

He added that the southwestern part of the state — the main wheat growing counties — have been “very short” in topsoil moisture. Last week’s rains were most welcome.

The most recent prospective plantings report has Illinois wheat down below a half-million acres at 480,000 acres.

“This was a little surprising to me, given the record wheat crop last year and the exceptional quality that was harvested,” Fraley said.

Upcoming challenges for the wheat crop are the spring rains and the increased pressure for disease and insect pressure. Although furasium-resistant seed varieties are available, they are not yet in wide use by growers.

Luthy, for example, does include some disease-resistant varieties in his plantings, but prefers to rely on direct fungicide applications for scab control.

“We do still have a long way to go to harvest,” he added.

 

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