Wheat crop off to good start
Staff writer
With prices higher than seen in eight years and the crop looking great so far, area wheat farmers are hoping forecast rain will boost growth and continue what appears to be the start of a satisfying year for wheat.
Jared Jones, strategic account manager and agronomist for Mid-Kansas Cooperative, said wheat plants are starting to make heads.
“We’re just starting to see heads,” Jones said. “It’s in the boot stage.”
Jones said the weather will play a part in wheat development and production.
“It’s been a little on the dry side right now in McPherson and Marion counties,” Jones said.
One disease has reared its head.
“We’re starting to see some stripe rust,” he said. “We’ve been applying fungicides to protect the crop from that rust.”
Jones said treating for fungus is the last management decision wheat growers make.
That’s pretty much the last we do as far as management.
“You don’t know how bad the disease is going to get,” he said.
The profit outlook looks great this year.
“The price has been good for a long time,” he said. “We’ve had significant movement. It’s $7.30 a bushel. That’s an eight-year high.”
Now it’s a matter of waiting for mid-June when the wheat should be ready to harvest.
“It doesn’t look like we’re going to have an early harvest at this time,” Jones said. “Hopefully we have good rain and we have good weather in May.”