News

Winter wheat growth expected early

An extension educator says the mild winter conditions could cause winter wheat to come out of dormancy early in the Eastern Corn Belt.

Martin Nagelkirk with Michigan State University tells Brownfield limited snow cover and warmer than normal temperatures this year is comparable to the start of 2012 when the wheat crop started to aggressively grow in March.  “What can happen is you become so developed and then later in May you get a hard freeze, or even early June, and then we can actually run into some damage.”

He says right now overall wheat conditions are relatively good with limited winter kill expected and while hard freeze events in the spring are possible, they are rare.

AUDIO: Interview with Martin Nagelkirk