The plea in wheat updates and reports comes from farmers and crop specialists. They say that without rain anytime soon, growers will see reduced yields.
“It’s a critical time for the wheat crop,” said Jeff Krohn, a fifth-generation farmer who grows about 2,000 acres of wheat, corn, soybeans, dry beans, sugarbeets and alfalfa near Owendale in Huron County.
Krohn is also chairman of the Michigan Wheat Program.
“Pollination is just starting in a lot of our fields,” he added. “It’s critical to have liquid levels of soil moisture. In our good soils, our clay soils, there is good moisture down deep. So those fields aren’t quite so bad right now, but our loamier soils, our sandy soils, there are a lot of spots that are firing up in the field right now, and the yield loss on those areas are going to be quite dramatic.”
Krohn, a Huron County Farm Bureau member, hasn’t received rainfall in three weeks. He predicts there will be up to a 30% yield loss in his poorer soils.
Water and heat stress are critical to the crop’s growth, said Dennis Pennington, wheat systems specialist for Michigan State University.
“High temperature can affect pollination, but a lack of moisture can also exacerbate the problem,” Pennington told Michigan Farm News. “Because when you get to those warmer temperatures, the plant is trying to cool itself. If there's a lack of water, that'll make it even worse.”
Some MSU reports show wheat leaves are starting to “roll like corn does when drought-stressed.”
Pennington said Michigan has received an inch of rain or less in the past 30 days, noting wheat uses about 0.19 inches of water per day when the temperature exceeds 75 degrees Fahrenheit and 0.25 inches of water when the temperature reaches 85 degrees.
He added that pollen formation and flowering occur over a seven- to 10-day window and is the most sensitive time to temperatures above 88 degrees.
Source: michiganfarmnews.com
Photo CreditL: istock-zhaojiankang
Categories: Michigan, Crops, Corn, Soybeans, Wheat, Harvesting