For Oklahoma farmer Keeff Felty, wheat isn’t just another crop—it’s part of his family’s legacy. As a fourth-generation farmer from Altus, he’s watched the landscape change, with wheat acres shrinking and new challenges emerging.
Felty, who served as president of the National Association of Wheat Growers and is pictured above, knows firsthand the pressures wheat farmers face, especially in an area of the state where drought is ever looming.
“Wheat has always been a part of what we do,” he said on his farm, “but we’re facing new challenges.”
Wheat production in the United States has steadily declined for the past few decades, with the area planted to the crop shrinking by about 1.5% annually. In 2024, about 34 million acres of winter wheat were planted. In 1994, U.S. farmers planted about 50 million acres, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Rising input costs, market volatility and competition from crops like corn and soybeans have made wheat a less attractive option.
Also, corn and soybeans benefit from advanced genetic tools and more streamlined production systems, further tipping the scales.
Yet, a renewed focus on research and policy aims to revitalize wheat production, highlighting its often-overlooked benefits in crop rotations. Universities across the Midwest are leading the charge. For instance, Oklahoma State University continues developing resilient wheat varieties, while Texas A&M University and Kansas State University are exploring wheat’s sustainability.
In Kansas, the nation’s wheat powerhouse, K-State is at the forefront of this movement. In partnership with Kansas Wheat, it has launched Wheat: Beyond the Value of the Grain, an educational campaign highlighting wheat’s broader benefits in cropping systems. Beyond market value, the initiative emphasizes wheat’s role in soil health, sustainability and overall farm profitability.
K-State researchers have also contributed to a major agronomy publication, synthesizing 45 years of wheat field research across the nation. The 96-page chapter, published last year, was led by a doctoral student under the guidance of university wheat specialist Romulo Lollato.
Lollato emphasized that the research highlights the missed opportunities for farmers who sideline wheat, including the flexibility it brings to the farm such as in large windows for planting and fertilizing, as well as livestock grazing options.
“We’ve seen a real decline in wheat acres over the past 30 years,” Lollato said. “But we’re hopeful we’ve hit a plateau and are now seeing signs of stabilization.”
The profitability puzzle
For farmers, profitability is the deciding factor when choosing which crops to plant. For instance, Lollato said, wheat competes with corn and soybeans, which benefit from either ethanol production or export markets, and from steeper genetic advancements.
But Lollato and his team are working to make a strong case for wheat’s economic benefits. As part of K-State’s Wheat RX program—a collaborative initiative focused on disseminating research to help farmers maximize wheat yields and profitability—he has been traveling across Kansas and surrounding states, sharing key findings from the research.
Yield improvements: Including wheat in crop rotations can significantly boost yields for corn and soybeans. For example, a 10-year study in Illinois showed better corn and soybean yields in a corn-soybean-wheat rotation compared to systems with just corn or soybeans.
A 44-year study in eastern Kansas found that soybeans rotated with wheat yielded 27% more than those grown in continuous soybean systems. Additionally, sorghum grown after wheat had 10 to 30 bushels per acre greater yield than continuous sorghum in long-term trials in western Kansas.
“Much of those increases come from improved soil attributes, such as greater water storage at planting and greater infiltration rates when the wheat residue is present, which translated into higher grain yields,” Lollato noted.
Improvements from residue: Wheat residue can reduce soil water evaporation by 4 to 25% compared to bare soil, which helps improve the yield of summer crops, especially under water stress. Wheat residue also lowers soil temperatures, minimizes wind and water erosion and acts as a physical barrier to suppress weed growth in summer crops.
Also, allelopathic compounds released by wheat residue can reduce summer weed germination, such as pigweed and giant foxtail, without harming growing crops.
Resource efficiency: Including wheat in a corn-soybean rotation enhances yield stability and reduces the nitrogen required to maximize corn yields. This is partly due to nitrogen rhizodeposition from wheat, which improves nitrogen use efficiency in corn and reduces the need for inorganic fertilizer.
Improved soil health: Long-term studies show that rotations including wheat lead to greater soil organic matter and improved soil structure compared to rotations without wheat. This is a function of the large amounts of carbon left behind the combine in the wheat residue.
Disease management: Wheat helps control soybean cyst nematodes, reducing populations by 30% when it precedes soybeans.
Economic resilience: Studies in Oklahoma show that double-cropping soybeans with dual-purpose winter wheat provided the highest average net return.
Lollato added that wheat is also a source of beneficial insects for summer crops early in the season. While other summer crops might not emerge until May or June, having wheat in the field allows beneficial insects like ladybugs and wasps to establish.
“By the time you plant sorghum, these natural predators may already be at high enough levels to help control pests like the sugarcane aphid, reducing the need for spraying,” he said.
“I know we can show the immediate benefits of the crop, but the grower needs some financial incentive for it to make sense,” Lollato added, noting three needs:
- Immediate: Can we improve our management practices to increase yields right now?
- Long term: Developing a genetically modified organism wheat variety that can evolve and provide more tools for farmers. For example, Argentina reached a milestone with the first GMO wheat variety, developed to improve drought tolerance.
“In the long run, can we have GMO wheat that helps protect the crop against hard-to-control diseases such as the wheat streak mosaic virus, for example?” Lollato asked. - Macroscale: How can we tap into markets and adjust internal policies as world population grows?
“Right now, we are providing the wheat grower in Kansas a lot of arguments why they should keep wheat in the rotation, even though it might not be the most profitable crop,” Lollato says.
Other research
Meanwhile, last month, Felty and NAWG officials previewed a project they commissioned, which will be unveiled later this year. NAWG, the National Wheat Foundation and U.S. Wheat partnered with Texas A&M AgriLife and Colorado State University to conduct a “Wheat Life Cycle Assessment,” evaluating the environmental impact of wheat production.
The assessment looks at both modern and historical wheat production, comparing data from the 1980s to the late 2010s. While the assessment hasn’t been publicly released yet, early findings show that wheat production has improved in several key areas, including greenhouse gas emissions, soil erosion, energy use and water usage.
The final report will be made available later this year.
“We knew we had a good story,” Felty said. “Now we have the proof. Wheat has a strong greenhouse gas footprint, good energy efficiency and responsible water use.”
Amy Bickel can be reached at journal@hpj.com.
Policy changes can help, too
By Amy Bickel
Despite wheat’s advantages, policy constraints continue to limit its growth. Keeff Felty, who grows wheat and cotton on his farm, has experienced these challenges firsthand.
“We’re still in drought,” he said in early March. “We’ve had places where we’ve picked up only two-tenths of an inch of rain since November.”
As National Association of Wheat Growers past president, Felty supports policy changes, particularly in crop insurance and climate-smart agriculture programs. One key priority is ensuring wheat’s environmental benefits, like those outlined in the K-State report, are recognized. The proposed policy change would classify intentionally seeded winter wheat as a cover crop for Natural Resources Conservation Service and climate-smart programs, while maintaining its eligibility as a harvestable cash crop for crop insurance and other safety net programs.
Currently, U.S. Department of Agriculture policies prohibit cover crops from being harvested for grain. Regulations from the Farm Service Agency and NRCS define cover crops for conservation purposes only, excluding them from being harvested for grain.
NAWG argues that “climate-smart” practices, like wheat in rotation, are vital for land stewardship. However, wheat’s role in conservation and food security has often been overlooked. As the policy landscape evolves, recognizing wheat’s multiple benefits is more crucial than ever.
“We’re working to get wheat recognized for its dual benefits—both as a vital crop in rotation and for its positive impact on the overall system,” Felty said. “The entire farming ecosystem just performs better when wheat is in the rotation. Wheat helps maintain a living organism in the soil year-round, contributing to better soil health, nutrient cycling and organic matter. This is a new space we’re working in, and it’s crucial to highlight wheat’s role in the bigger picture.”
Amy Bickel can be reached at journal@hpj.com.
