What’s Up This Wheat? July 9

Hello All,

What’s up this Wheat? Weekly highlights and resources for producing winter wheat in Eastern Nebraska.

Weather

• NOAA Climate Prediction Center – Warmer and drier for wheat harvest later this week and next
• Quick Drought Response Index – northeast Nebraska showing initial signs
• NOAA Precipitation Analysis – Radar estimated rainfall from July 8 and 9

Highlight(s) in the Media

• Nebraska Wheat Board: NE Wheat Crop Report – July 8
• Progressive Farmer: Combines Find a Good Wheat Crop… in Fields That Survived
• U.S Wheat Associates Harvest Report: July 3, 2019

Economics

• Local Cash Bids on July 9, 2019
  • ADM Lincoln – 4.58
  • Scoular Fremont – 4.83
• Rock Valley Mixed Hay and Bedding Auction in NW, Iowa: Straw prices
• Wheat Reports from CME Group – Periodic Report, Supply Charts, Demand Charts, Fundamental Reference

Agronomics

• University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension CropWatch Articles
  • Why Did Fusarium Head Blight Develop in My Wheat Field after I Sprayed at Flowering
  • Strategies for Handling Wheat Grain Affected by Fusarium Head Blight
  • Wheat Disease Update
• Regional Variety Trial Results
  • Oklahoma State University – Results being posted
  • Kansas State University – Results being posted
  • University of Nebraska – Harvest just beginning
  • South Dakota State University – No yet harvesting
• Kansas State University
  • New KSRE publication on Fusarium head blight (head scab) in wheat
• South Dakota State University
  • Winter Wheat Disease Update: Leaf Diseases and FHB on the Increase

Tips

• Why do I get lower test weight after a rain during harvest (K-State source)? 
  • “First, kernels may swell due to moistening, causing the seed coat to loosen irreversibly. The seed coat later wrinkles with drying and the kernel may not return to its original size, affecting kernel packing and ultimately decreasing test weight.”
  • “Secondly, precipitation can initiate the germination process in the moistened kernel and cause starch to be digested, leaving small voids inside the kernel which decreases test weight. Under these circumstances, pre-harvest sprouting may occur in some varieties.”
  • “The extent of the decrease in wheat test weight depends on how many times it rained between optimal harvest time (wheat at harvest maturity) and actual harvest time. The greater the number of rainfall events, the greater the decrease in test weight.”

Please feel free to email me and other wheat farmers in eastern Nebraska that are a part of this email group with comments or questions!

You can view previous weekly emails at https://croptechcafe.org/winterwheat/

This email is part of the Winter Wheat Works Initiative, a local University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension effort to encourage and support growers in Eastern Nebraska to move from a strict corn-soybean rotation to a successful flex-rotation where some winter wheat acres are considered each year and strategically integrated into their cropping system.