(8.20.09) Peterson Farms, of Loretto, Ky. near Bardstown, achieved the highest yield in the 2009 Kentucky Extension Wheat Production Contest, 104.53 bushels per acre. This winning crop was produced using AgriPro Branson seed and no-tillage. The previous crop was soybeans and the wheat was planted on November 1. A full summary of the production practices used on contest yields will be available from UK later this year.

All contest winners will be recognized at the 2010 Kentucky Commodity Conference, January 22, in Bowling Green. KySGGA congratulates the champions and will be sponsoring the trophies and awards.

See all winners

In August, the Kentucky Small Grain Growers Association and Promotion Council selected the research projects that will receive Small Grain checkoff funding for the 2009-2010 growing season. The new round of projects brings the total dedicated funding toward research to more than $1.5 million since the checkoff was initiated in 1992.

See a summary of the research projects selected.

9.30.09 - Kentucky farmers harvested 22.2 million bushels of winter wheat in the summer of 2009 according to the Kentucky Field Office of USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. This was 32 percent below the record high production during 2008. A wet spring caused quality problems. Rain during flowering promoted fusarium wilt growth which reduced yields and lowered test weights for much of the crop. Harvest was late due to wet weather, which caused some lodging, further complicating harvest. Farmers harvested 390,000 acres for grain. This was down 70,000 acres from 2008. Yield was estimated at 57 bushels per acre, down 14 bushels from the 2008 record high yield. Farmers seeded 510,000 acres in the fall of 2008, down 70,000 acres from the previous year. The 120,000 acres not harvested for grain were plowed down for a cover crop prior to setting tobacco, cut as grain hay, chopped as grain silage or abandoned. Production of all wheat for the U.S. totaled 2.22 billion bushels in 2009, up 2 percent from the August forecast but down 11 percent from 2008. Grain area was 50.1 million acres, down 10 percent from last year. The yield was 44.4 bushels per acre, down 0.5 bushel from last year.