What’s Up This Wheat? April 29 – May 5

Hello All,

What’s Up This Wheat? Weekly highlights and resources for growing winter wheat in Eastern Nebraska.

Weather

• Nebraska Drought Monitor for May 3 – Created prior to the rain this week, but expansion of the abnormally dry area throughout southeast Nebraska and up into east central Nebraska.
• Significant rainfall May 1-3 across portions of eastern Nebraska: View at NOAA Quantitative Precipitation Estimates
• Soil moisture sensors in Dodge County wheat field showed great soil profile moisture, only 0.2” depleted in the top 3 feet prior to the rain this week
• Subsoil moisture lacking in portions of southeast Nebraska: Clay, Nuckolls, and Thayer counties

Highlight(s) in the Media

• Results from the Wheat Quality Council Wheat Tour, May 1 – May 3 in KS, NE, CO, and OK: Daily reports at Kansas Wheat
  • Bill Spiegel, Editor of the High Plains Journal: Summary Sheet
  • Reuters
  • Kansas Wheat CEO Justin Gilpin Interview
• Oklahoma Farm Report: Oklahoma Winter Wheat Crop Predictions Are Dismal

Economics

• Wheat Reports from the CME Group – Periodic reports, supply charts, demand chars, and fundamental reference
• Weekly Export Sales Report – 97.3% of 5 year average for this time of year
• Farm Futures: Wheat Outlook – Wheat points to move in May

Agronomics

• CropWatch Article: Nebraska Wheat Estimates Crop at 43.7 Million Bushels
• Crop Tech Cafe Blog Post: Assessing winter wheat stand and yield potential
• 2018 Nebraska Winter Wheat Condition compared to 2014 through 2017, on page 6
• Update on stripe and leaf rust pressure to our south in Kansas and Oklahoma
• Tan spot, powdery mildew, and bird cherry oat aphids reported by Jenn Rees
  • Educator Report from Jenny Rees
  • Pictures and recent CropWatch article on these
  • Tan spot publication
  • Powdery mildew publication
• Eastern Nebraska growth stage reports: Feekes 3 to 7
  • Visual Guide of Winter Wheat Development and Growth Staging

Tips

• Know your fungicide efficacy for controlling wheat diseases: 2018 Chart
• Save the Date! Winter Wheat Field Days and Variety Trial Tours
  • May 30, Mark Knobel’s Farm north of Fairbury, NE
  • June 12, Eastern Nebraska Research & Extension Center near Mead, NE
• #wheat, follow this organization on Twitter – UNL Plant & Pest Diagnostic Clinic @UNLPlantClinic

Please feel free to email me and the group with comments or questions!

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

This email is part of the Winter Wheat Works Initiative, a local Nebraska 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.