Small grain production is mainly focused on cover crops in our area with a limited number of acres harvested for grain and straw.  This trend is increasing due to the demand for cover crop seed.  In 2020, we saw a historical freeze late in the season that damaged the small grain crops, severely hurting the yield potential resulting in the need for management plans to be altered for the remaining crop production.  

Two separate freeze events occurred on April 15-16 with temperatures dropping to 27 degrees for an extended period of time.  According to the Mesonet Station we have in Lewis County the second freeze accord on May 7th -9^th with temperatures staying below 30 degrees for 9.5 hrs and as below 28 degrees for 1.08 hours.  These low temperature did severe damage to the crop from stem damage to poor or no seed fill in the plant, leaving farmers with important management decisions to make.    Agriculture agents form Lewis, Bracken, and Mason Counties and UK Grain Crop Specialist visited numerous fields in the local area to assess the damage.  It was determined that wheat crops had significant damage to the pollination that was occurring leaving the seed formation empty.   Some crops that were either earlier or later in the pollination process did produce some seed, but since the wheat head pollinates over a period of time, the majority of the crops showed various level of yield loss from 50% to over 70%.  

With the information provided by the University of Kentucky Extension Service producers had the tools to make smart decisions for: market contracts, fungicide applications, and harvest.