By Rhonda Garrison
The plight of the region’s soybean and cotton crops are having a direct effect on the future small grain crop says Dan Weathington, Executive Director of the North Carolina Small Grain Growers Association:
“There’s still a lot of soybeans in the field, I was out in the Elizabeth City, Martin County, Beaufort County last week, there’s still a lot of soybeans from Elizabeth City out towards 95 and some west that have not been cut. However, there’s a good bit of wheat that’s been planted in the Elizabeth City area that some of it really needs some cold weather on it quick because it’s growing too fast.”
And while Thanksgiving is right around the corner, Weathington says it’s not too late to plant winter wheat:
“Right now farmers are struggling to get the beans out, cotton out and to plant wheat. And according to a report we had Monday about 35% of the wheat has been planted. Just remind growers, just as Dr. Ron Heiniger is going to remind them this week in our newsletter that if weather and planting conditions and soil moisture we have planted wheat up to the 10th of December.”
As far as planted acres in North Carolina, Weathington says the jury is still out:
“As you go later, you always want to increase your planting population…if you’re early December or later, as much as 10%. I’m kind of optimistic, we have a 10-year average of wheat plantings of about 600,000 acres, we may be bumping on the 550-600,000, it’s really too early to tell.”
Weathington had these thoughts for producers that are thinking about foregoing wheat this year altogether:
“Just keep an eye on the market, the weather and keep that good rotation, of wheat following soybeans or corn, because it will always in the long run make you money. I don’t know of anybody that’s going to get filthy rich we’ve had five years of pretty good wheat crop.
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