Photo Tom Miller – bottom 2 heads undamaged, top head severely damaged by cold temperatures

After a very warm February and March, Ballard County Wheat Growers woke up to damaging cold temperatures on March 15^th and again on the 17^th through the 21^st.   Ballard County Mesonet records indicated a temperature of 21.7 on Wednesday March 15^th and 22.5 on March 20^th.  These temperatures are cold enough to damage a developing wheat head while it is moving up the stem.  Scouting wheat fields to try and determining the extent of damage is very difficult because every field is a little different and the different topographical areas in each field are a little different.  Actual temperature readings vary across the field due to topography. Actual plant development stages vary across the topography.

Ballard County Agricultural Agent Tom Miller tried to personally scout enough fields in Ballard County to try and determine the severity of the injury.  To date, 23 wheat fields have been evaluated with damage ranging from 5% to zero.  Scouting consists of going to different parts in each field and collecting 25 wheat stems.  These stems are then cut open with a very sharp knife or scalpel to find the developing wheat head and then determining the possible damage.  Unfortunately, the very first head that was cut open showed 100% damage making further scouting more intense.  However, fortunately the entire wheat crop seems to have escaped major damage.  A small percentage of damaged heads could be found in every field, but it should not be enough damage to impact yield.