What’s up this WHEAT? May 16

Weekly highlights and resources for producing winter wheat in eastern Nebraska.

Weather

• USDA-NASS VegScape – Learn more about how to use this tool
• NOAA Drought Severity Index: May 9 Long Term Palmer Index
• NWS Climate Prediction Center – 6-10 day, 8-14 day, and 3-4 week outlooks suggest above normal chances for precipitation for eastern Nebraska

Highlights in the News

• K-State to host first-ever live Virtual Wheat Field Day
• Reuters Business News: India’s farmers gather record wheat crop, but cannot move it
• 65 Years of Nebraska Wheat: Variety Survey
• Hard Red Winter Wheat Virtual Tour is May 18-21, 2020

Economics

• USDA-ERS Monthly Wheat Outlook – May 14
• Local Cash Bids on May 17, 2020 (July futures, $4.52)
  • ADM Lincoln at $4.52
  • Scoular Fremont at $4.47
• Rock Valley Mixed Hay and Bedding Sale Results, May 14: $105 per ton for large round straw bales
• U.S. Wheat Associates Weekly Price Report: May 15

Agronomics

• Review of Wheat Growth Stages:
  • From north to south in eastern Nebraska plus variation in planting dates, growth stage likely range from Feekes 6 (jointing) to Feekes 10.1 (Head emerging).
• UNL CropWatch – Wheat Diseases Developing, Scout Field for Early Detection
• K-State Agronomy eUpdate: Wheat disease update for Kansas – May 15, 2020

Tips

• Complete my new Nebraska Winter Wheat Stripe and Leaf Rust Tracking Survey! You will answer several questions and upload a high quality photo as a part of this survey to track the distribution/movement of stripe and leaf rust in Nebraska by county.
• Do you use Twitter (social media) for agronomic insights? Follow Kansas State Wheat Extension Specialist, Romulo Lollato at @KSUWheat
• Send me pictures of your wheat to be highlighted in the next newsletter and keep sending me pictures this growing season! Email to 

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

You can view previous newsletters at croptechcafe.org/winterwheat/

This newsletter is part of the Winter Wheat Works Initiative, a local University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension effort by Nathan Mueller, Cropping Systems Educator, 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.