Spring Green-Up Will Reveal Extent of Wheat Damage

Cold weather and snow systems are impacting much of the US this week, with a big cold front gripping much of the northern half of the country, while the eastern half found itself buried under snow, leading to concerns over the winter wheat crop. “For Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska, there has never been good snow cover through this whole event, and the temperatures were down near the damage threshold over multiple days,” says World Weather Incorporated Chief Meteorologist Drew Lerner. “For the crown of the wheat crop to be subjected to that kind of temperature for 72 hours is a pretty long time and I think that there’s a potential we may have done some damage to the crown of the plant. Now, if the plant has not died it will probably set new tillers in the spring if everything goes well and it could still regain some of its production potential.” For snow covered states like Illinois or Indiana, Lerner says we’ll have to wait and see what sort of impact this adverse weather had on the winter crop. “In the Midwest in general, from Missouri to Ohio, those areas were snow free from Thursday night through Saturday morning, then the snow came. So, there may still be a little bit of issue in the soft red wheat areas as well. And we’ll just have to wait until spring and see what greens up and what doesn’t.”