Less than ideal conditions challenge wheat at finish line
Last fall John Holman, professor in agronomy at Kansas State University and the cropping systems and forage agronomist at the Southwest Research and Extension Center in Garden City, didn’t think there would be much of a wheat crop in 2025.
“Considering how things looked from December to clear up till April, I didn’t think we were going to have anything there for a while,” he said.
Cooler temperatures in May and timely rains in some parts of Kansas helped the wheat crop come out of its tough beginning and start to look much better. By late May, some fields in southwest Kansas were damaged by storms rolling through the area. Holman said it’s been a combination of planting conditions and excess moisture, that have caused some of the wheat to lodge and lay on the ground.
“Because of that, the root and crown development was less than if we had good moisture early on,” he said.
Wet conditions in the spring can cause an increased incidence of root rot diseases. Some of the lodging could be the result of root or crown rot. The best way to determine this is to pull or dig the plant up and inspect the root system.
“See if they’re healthy or if they’re rotted off,” Holman said. “Take a knife and cut open the crown of the plant and look at the inside of the crown. If it looks good and white and healthy, you know it isn’t a problem. If you get a root rot or crown rot, it’s going to be reddish brown inside of it.”
That’s the easiest way to tell and most distinguishable, according to Holman, but there could be other things going on too.
“Because it was so dry, we didn’t have that much tillering, and then conditions turned real favorable,” he said. “And so, the plant is aggressively trying to put out more and so then that increases the chances of lodging.”
Wheat growing in wet soil plus strong winds could be factors, too. Those conditions coupled together with a “not as good” root system wheat could cause plants to flatten.
“Poorly drained sites in lower parts of the field can cause weak roots,” Holman said. “There’s some other things—if you’ve got real excessive nitrogen rates or real high seeding rates coupled with the moisture, they can put on a lot of tall, lush growth, and that can cause lodging.”
Holman said certain varieties can have weaker stalk strength, but they could also yield higher.
“A lot of years we don’t see problems,” he said. “But a year like this, then sometimes those varieties (that) have weaker stem straw strength.”
Management
Holman said there are ways to manage wheat to help prevent lodging. One way is to select shorter varieties. It does come with a caveat though.
“Shorter varieties—that may go against one of the reasons we grow wheat is for its residue benefits but (go for) shorter varieties with stronger stem strength,” he said.
Holman suggested growers try to stop over applying nitrogen and back off seeding rates. Excessively high seed populations could contribute to the problem.
With lodged wheat, harvest is going to be a bit of a challenge, since the combine head has to be lower.
“I think one of the main benefits we grow wheat for is the residue cover after wheat harvest. So, (if) we’re going to cut really low, we’re going to reduce residue,” he said. “We’ve got to slow our speed way down.”
Sometimes operators harvest lodged wheat all in one direction, taking extra time and care to pick up what’s down. Others have used the wind to their advantage to help get the wheat picked up.
Holman has witnessed some wheat that will stand back up after getting laid down a little bit. Wheat that stays down will suffer some yield losses.
“If it stays wet on the ground, then you have to worry about sprouting too,” he said. “Those areas that are starting to lodge—try to get the lodged areas first, because as that plant gets grain it gets heavy in the head, and it’s going to increase the potential for more lodging.”
Either way, too much moisture and growth could be a blessing in disguise.
“We can’t grow wheat without moisture,” Holman said. “Thankfully, these conditions have stayed cool here in June.”
The cooler weather has allowed the grain fill to be pushed further into June. Usually that stops when the temps turn hot.
“That can negate some of the benefits we see from having received the moisture because with cooler conditions, we’re setting up really nice for grain fill and yield potential,” he said. So that’s good.”
Other problems
Holman has gotten some reports of rust in the wheat crop, but not “too many.”
“We’ve had worse years for rust,” he said. “But cool, wet conditions, that’s when we tend to see more stem and stripe rust, and there’s been some this year. But I think given the environmental conditions we’ve had, I think it could sure be worse.”
Holman reminds farmers to control the volunteer wheat before it gets out of hand, and that’s the best way to get a handle on the rust that’s out there.
“We’ve been telling people for years that you’ve got to manage your volunteer wheat to prevent that from happening. But they still think it comes from the pasture all kinds of different things,” he said. “But really the lion’s share of that problem is just not managing the volunteer wheat in the fall. So, if they would do that, they would have less of a problem with that.”
Thankfully too, there haven’t been any cases of stem saw fly, and according to Holman, it hasn’t made its way to Kansas yet, but the farther north it is a different story. He’s heard reports of cases in Nebraska, northeast Colorado, and Montana. The stem saw fly lays its eggs in the base of the wheat stem and when the larvae come out and eat the pith of the stem, the plant all but breaks and lays over when the new fly emerges.
“When that crop gets more ripe, about the day or two before you’re going to harvest it, the whole field lays over,” he said. “It’s been working its way south, so that’s a concern, but thankfully we haven’t seen it yet in Kansas, but it’s something we’re keeping an eye on.”
Kylene Scott can be reached at 620-227-1804 or [email protected].
