Heat stress on wheat

Heat stress on wheat

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
Heat stress on wheat up in northern Idaho. Anybody who would claim that farming is an easy way of life needs their head examined. First, it is very hard labor. Secondly, when you are at the mercy of weather, farming can be something of a crap shoot. All of that money invested in equipment, land, crop chemicals, fuel and the list goes on. In Nez Perce County, Robert Blair says his wheat crop is feeling the summer heat stress. “As the wheat was flowering, the heat really hurt production. We had the potential to have a really good crop but right now we are having an average to somewhat below average crop right now.” Robert is watching the markets to see when it is best to sell. “This morning when I looked we was up 15, that was Chicago. It was going up. Russia came in and is banning all US ag products right now. I heard Dale Moore of the American Farm Bureau said on ABC news that it should not affect US agricultural exports that much.” I noted the obvious, they don’t take that much from us anyway. “No, no. The Ukraine is there wheat supplier anyway and it seems like they rolled in enough tanks to secure their wheat supply.” With plenty of wheat still in storage from last year’s crop, growers can expect more difficulty getting the 2014 crop to be profitable.
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