NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) – Some Nebraska wheat farmers have been worrying about the warm, dry winter.
Crop specialist Bob Klein says that planting conditions were perfect in fall for dry land winter wheat. The most recent federal survey shows about 74 percent of the Nebraska wheat crop is in good or excellent condition, far above the 42 percent in good or excellent condition reported in the survey a year ago.
But Klein says dry soil warms up easier than wet soil and that January plant growth could hurt the harvest in July.
Plus, the likely ground freeze and thawing can be hard on wheat plants.
Klein says area wheat fields could use “a good blanket of wet snow. That would be the ideal situation.”