Wheat acres, and grain acres in general, are going to cut into cotton acres next year in our area . Growers who have been in a continous cotton rotation are adding wheat and soybeans to their rotation while others are increasing corn acres.
Wheat planting will begin this week on our mineral soils. Current moisture conditions are suitable for good stand establishment. Whether or not this will be another high yielding crop depends a lot on a dry fall and the ability to produce fall tillers. Ensuring fields drain well is the other key component and one I think could use more attention.
Our winters are usually more wet than dry. If we have a wet fall, our crop will suffer and drainage issues will be evident. I believe every farm needs a land leveler and now is the time to be correcting issues ahead of this wheat crop. Attention should also be given to field widths. Many fields will be seeded in the coming weeks that are to wide to be adequately drained with exsisting ditches. This is a relatively cheap fix when compared to potential losses.
