Ag Weather Forum

When Wheat Dies; Winterkill Notable In Plains Wheat

Bryce Anderson
By  Bryce Anderson , Ag Meteorologist Emeritus
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An 80-degree Fahrenheit swing from mild to bitter cold back in November was enough to kill off many acres of winter wheat in the western Plains. (Photo courtesy Leon Kriesel)

In the almost 40 years of my career, there are only two occurrences that stand out when winter wheat--portrayed as the toughest-son-of-a-gun crop we know of--died. Yes, it can happen.

In my experience, the first such occasion that I witnessed was in early February, 1989. That incident was the result of temperatures changing from a very mild late January (mid-60s Fahrenheit) to bitter cold during the first few days of February (air temperature minus-20 F with a wind chill value of -70 F). On that occasion, winter wheat had been enticed out of its dormant phase by the very mild trend, and was very vulnerable to the ravages of the harsh cold wave. When I did a TV story near Beatrice, Nebraska (in southeastern Nebraska), the farmer whose forlorn wheat field we were looking at said, "That's the first time I've seen wheat die."

Twenty-five years later, it happened again. The circumstances are described by wheat grower Leon Kriesel, who had some of his wheat on his farm near Gurley, Nebraska (western Nebraska) die because of similar conditions to that of 1989.

"The damage ranges from two percent to 100 percent," Leon said in an e-mail to DTN. "You can find damage in all fields. Drier areas are probably worse. Loose seed beds also did not fare as well. Second week in November temperatures went from 70 to minus 14 in six days. That was the start of it. Moisture was adequate at the time but the plants were not hardened off. Varietal differences are hard to see, but we know of a pivot of SY Wolf that is totally dead...Southwest Nebraska is probably worse as they were (or) are drier."

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The last month has also been anything but friendly on the precipitation scene. Western and southwestern Nebraska, northwestern Kansas and northeastern Colorado have had no more than three-tenths of an inch precipitation. That has kept the pressure on for wheat as it moves out of dormancy.

Writing in a Nebraska extension service crop update this week, University of Nebraska-Lincoln agronomist Dr. P. Stephen Baenziger confirmed the issue of winterkill. "It was a tough winter for wheat with severe winterkill evident in areas of Nebraska, with southwest Nebraska reporting the highest levels, according to the March 20 Nebraska Wheat Crop Report published by the Nebraska Wheat Board," Baeziger wrote. "The most severe fields had 60 percent to 80 percent damage with less severe fields showing 40 percent to 50 percent damage. Soil moisture is short due to warm temperatures in November that led to rapid growth depleting the soil profile." Baenziger also noted that the extent of winterkill also varied depending on the variety, with some varieties showing 100 percent winterkill.

Winterkill also affected plants no matter when the fields were seeded--early or late seedings were both hit in Baenziger's analysis. "Early-seeded winter wheat used soil water last fall, leaving little moisture in the soil profile in some areas. Dry soil heats up and cools down six times faster than moist soil, increasing winter injury and winterkill. Late-seeded winter wheat also sustained damage in some areas as it was not well enough established to tolerate the harsh winter conditions."

So, there is definitely some damage and possibly extensive to the hard red winter wheat crop in the western Plains. Winter wheat is tough, but even tough has its limits.

The full round of comments from Dr. P. Stephen Baenziger is at this link:

http://tinyurl.com/…

Bryce

Twitter @BAndersonDTN

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Raymond Simpkins
3/29/2015 | 6:42 AM CDT
Bryce,Here in Michigan we have winter kill in soft red quit often.Last year it was bad,lots of acres were tore up and planted to something else.We had early snow and alot of snow all winter so the ground never froze.I think then in the spring when it did freeze and thaw it heaved it out. Wheat looked good when we top dressed,but 2 weeks later was dead.Winter kill in some form or another happens almost ever year here.