Everybody talks about the weather, but for a wheat farmer, the weather is serious business. Every weather forecast Could bring help or disaster. Wheat producers need sunny days for planting and harvesting crops. In between they need rain, but at just the right time. Precipitation types include rain, snow, sleet and hail. Rain is more available to growing crops than frozen precipitation. Light showers are best because heavy rains erode precious topsoil. Rain is most efficient at recharging the soil profile. Recharge is the process by which water removed from the soil during the growing season is replaced. It occurs in the period between harvest and planting. IF the soil is not sufficiently recharged during that period, the possibility of drought increases. Recharge of the soil profile takes place at different times of year, depending on the type of wheat grown—winter wheat or spring wheat. Winter wheat is planted in the fall and sprouts and grows until winter weather sets in. It matures in the spring and is harvested early iN the summer. Recharge of the soil for winter wheat occurs in the summer. Spring wheat is planted in the spring, grows through the summer and is harvested in the fall. Recharge for spring wheat occurs in the winter. Frost at the wrong time can damage and/or kill a portion of the winter wheat crop, but snow can be good for winter wheat production. Snow can provide a thermal blanket in far northern climates that helps protect the soil and plants from severe freezing and heaving.

Too much rain at planting time can mean trouble getting into muddy fields with heavy planting equipment. Traffic on or tillage of fields when soil is saturated causes soil compaction. During seed germination either too much or too little rain can influence yields. Too much rain, especiallY with cool temperatures, can cause seed diseases, resulting in poor stands. Saturated soil causes poor soil aeration. This means poor germination or weak, small plants with shallow roots that may not be strong enough to withstand dry spells during the hot months when the crop is flowering and establishing harvestable grain.

Dry soil during planting may result in poor stand establishment and may cause plant stress when dryness occurs during the periods of flowering and seed set.

Temperature, precipitation and sunshine determine when a crop will grow, how well a crop will grow and how fast the wheat heads (kernels) will develop. Extreme, high temperatures can cause shriveled and shrunken wheat kernels later in the season. High temperatures and drought conditions may also push the wheat harvest ahead.

The weather is particularly important at harvest time. Combines used for cutting, threshing, and separating the wheat kernels from the chaff are exceptionally large and heavy machines. Too much rain makes the fields muddy, and it is difficult to impossible for the heavy machines to move around in them. The support equipment used at harvest also has difficulty in the mud. Harvested wheat is loaded into heavy trucks for delivery to the elevator. The trucks need to get in and out of fields without getting stuck. They also need to travel narrow back roads that may lack gravel or pavement. As these roads become wetter and wetter, harvesters can lose the ability to get to the fields. Even the grain cart, attached to a 550 horsepower tractor with tracks, can be overwhelmed in wet conditions. Cleaning equipment caked in mud costs precious time during the busy harvest season. In addition, the field has to be tilled to even out ruts made by heavy equipment. Tillage burns fuel and can quickly become a substantial cost. The timing of the rain can affect the quality of the wheat. Wheat must be harvested at just the right stage of maturity for best quality. Delayed harvest may cause the wheat kernels to sprout on the plant, making it worthless as a grain crop. Rain at the wrong time can affect value. Durum wheat, used for making pasta, quickly loses its glowing amber color if rain delays harvesting. The amber color is a major factor when it comes to grading. A downgrade from a #1 durum to a #3 can cost $1 per bushel or more. If the weather stays wet long enough, the wheat will have to be sold for animal feed, which brings down the profit. In some cases, rain can wash the wheat kernel so much and so aggressively that it begins to lose test weight. Weight determines quality. Test weight indicates how many pounds will fit into a specific volume. It is expressed as pounds per bushel. The size and shape of kernels, moisture content and the composition of the kernels affect the weight of grain fitting into the volume or test weight. Large kernels or kernels that do not fit tightly together will have a lower test weight than smaller kernels or kernels with less void spaces between them. Wheat test weight will decrease after each time it is rewet due to the kernels swelling when wet and not returning to their original size as they dry. The pounds of wheat being harvested have not changed, but the test weight is reduced because the kernels are larger. Unpredictable weather is hard on the custom wheat harvester traveling from state to state following the harvest. If the harvest is delayed by persistent rain in Kansas and Colorado but speeded up in Montana by hot, dry weather, the harvester is faced with a tough business decision. Moving a harvesting operation with several pieces of heavy equipment and workers is expensive and requires careful planning if the harvester is going to make a profit. If he skips Kansas and Colorado to get to Montana, he loses business, and if he waits on the rain before going to Montana, the Montana producer may have to hire someone else. The wheat harvest can’t wait.