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MSU wheat trials target falling numbers

Michigan State University’s wheat variety trials for the first time analyzed falling numbers to help farmers reduce pre-harvest sprouting.

Wheat breeder Eric Olsen tells Brownfield this year’s wetter season made for good research conditions.

“The following number that a wheat variety experiences is genetically determined, how that crop is going to respond to these rain events,” he explains. “What we’ve been seeing are consistent rain events, like multiple days of rainfall, during the harvest windows.”

Olsen says wet conditions during Michigan’s wheat harvest are becoming more common and falling number evaluations will become a regular component of performance reports to help farmers mitigate their risks.

“Varieties have strengths and weaknesses, and so this report is allowing growers to see both the strengths, maybe high yield potential, but also the weaknesses, if there’s a vulnerability to fusarium, head blight or a vulnerability to low falling number,” he says.

He says better genetics and earlier harvests are the best tools farmers have to combat early sprouting. Olsen also recommends farmers plant several wheat varieties each year.

AUDIO: Eric Olsen, Michigan State University