I cannot believe that it has been several months since I posted on this site. So much has happened.
Harvest is complete and we had a great crop. We finished before the rain and as such we did not have a issue with falling number wheat. Falling numbers result from rain on the wheat crop before it is harvested. Low falling numbers will result in a 50 cent per bushel reduction in the price for each bushel in the market place.
Last week the Wheat Grower’s convention had several discussions on this falling number issue. It causes wheat to not have the right flour strength to make a loaf of bread and the loaf then falls in the middle. Bakers around the world will have a hard time with wheat that has this issue.
The industry will try to blend off this crop with good wheat and this will help move this falling number wheat into the market. This helps market the crop and helps keep prices in line for both the grower and customers.
The long term solution to this problem is selecting wheat varieties that resist this. They are out there Let us hope for a great year going forward. but come with a host of other problems. One has to remember that this is what wheat does naturally when it is time to sprout and grow out of the ground when planted. We are trying to make wheat do what is not natural when we breed plants that do not start to sprout when wet.
The fall planted wheat is up. We had lots of fall moisture so I decided to re crop several acres going back into winter wheat. This has some risk as the crop is so small going into winter and as such is behind the regular crop.

Let us hope we have a happy Thanksgiving