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Winter wheat planting 180 from last year

A wheat educator says winter wheat this fall is potentially setting up farmers for a solid 2025.

Dennis Pennington is with Michigan State University Extension.

“If you’re late planting, there’s no amount of management that you can ever do that will make up for the lost yield that you will experience just simply from planting date,” he explains.

He tells Brownfield farmers are becoming increasingly concerned about whether the crop will remain viable.

“We’re definitely in need of rain this fall, where last year we couldn’t get it shut off quick enough, so very different,” he says.

Pennington says wheat should be able to emerge even with several weeks without rain if soil moisture levels were sufficient at planting.

The U.S. Drought Monitor says nearly all of Michigan is at least abnormally dry.