Carrie Knott, University of Kentucky grain crops extension specialist, has recently stated that planting conditions last fall started Kentucky’s wheat growing season off right.
Additionally, the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) has reported that the overall average yield for Kentucky’s wheat growers is at 74 bushels per acre, supporting her claim.
“Last fall, we had timely planting, good soil conditions and good soil moisture,” Knott said, according to UK Ag News. “Most of the wheat tillered in the fall, which increased the chances for good yields at harvest time.”
In the NASS report, U.S. wheat production is being forecasted this year at 2.26 billion bushels, up 184 million bushels from June.
“I’m hearing reports of 90 to 100 bushels per acre as a farm average,” Chad Lee, Lexington grain crops specialist, said in the UK article. “Usually, farmers will have one or two fields that average more than a 100 bushels per acre but not the entire farm, so this is really good.”
The fungal toxin deoxynivalenol has been low throughout the state as well. As growing season continued, a cool spring helped farmers extend the grain fill period. In some of the small plot studies in Princeton, Knott says she saw 160 bushels per acre.
The NASS will release findings on cattle feed, agricultural prices, and Current Agricultural Industrial Reports later this summer.