Why Farmers Are Considering Winter Wheat This Year in Western Canada

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radiant winter wheat

There is a lot of interest this year in winter wheat in Western Canada. Much of this interest stems from the very wet spring that we had this year in the west and the tremendous yields it looks like we will have.

Many farmers have either emailed me or called wondering why is everyone so interested in winter wheat because they want to make sure that they are not missing something.

In general here are many of the reasons that many farmers are either planting winter wheat for the first time in many years or they are increasing their acres allocated to the crop.

1. The ability to spread out seeding to lessen the load required on equipment in the spring time. Many farmers have acquired more acres and feel that they are in the grey area in terms of enough seeding iron to get the job done in the spring. Farmers have definitely learned what a wet spring can do to the best laid out plans.

2. Many are thinking about planting winter wheat to use as feed wheat in their livestock operations. Winter crops yield more than spring planted varieties and farmers using the crop for feed are not concerned about the grading issues.

3. The Ducks Unlimited Grower Incentive Program provides farmers cash back for incentive to plant winter wheat this year. The program is in partnership with Bayer. See the details of the program.

Check out an interview that I did with Ross McKenzie talking about Why you should consider winter wheat.

4. Due to the wet spring that we had on the prairies this year many farmers are thinking that they cannot risk leaving some of the flooded acres bare all winter. The standing water in the spring broke down the stubble and has left the ground exposed to possible wind erosion through the winter.

5. Based on the wet spring that we had the winter wheat yields look like they will be great this year just like they were in Ontario. Farmers tend to chase yields and this year it appears that winter wheat will be the yield winner.

6. With the strong run up in wheat prices this summer many farmers have wheat on the mind and would like to commit some production to the crop type this fall. With the drought in Russia, speculators have really put some bull behind the futures which has many farmers very interested in wheat in general.

I’m sure that some of you have your own reasons that are not covered above to plant winter wheat this fall. If I have not mentioned something please share some of your own reasons in the comments sections.

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