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Preparing for a wet wheat harvest

Michigan’s wheat harvest is underway, but rain could make quality a challenge for growers.

Tim Boring with Michigan Agriculture Advancement tells Brownfield while drought conditions at the start of the season have kept most disease issues at bay, rain this week, right when the crop is mature, will make harvest difficult.

“With this rainy pattern taking hold now, I think there’s a real concern here of what falling numbers and pre-harvest sprouting is going to look like,” he says.

The south-central Michigan farmer says poor-quality wheat needs to be segregated to avoid contamination or fields may need to be harvested with higher moisture levels to reduce issues.

“If we have really low yield potential in those areas already, it might make sense for some areas of the field to just not to get harvested because it’s just not worth contaminating the entire load,” he recommends.

Boring adds open communication with millers, elevators, and crop insurance agents is also needed for finding the best solutions for an uncertain harvest.

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