Kentucky Small Grain News

What's Happening?

Tariffs as Political Weapons Cause Collateral Damage

U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) and the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) are shocked and dismayed by President Donald Trump’s unilateral step to impose a five percent tariff on all Mexican goods imported by the United States. This action threatens to undermine approval of the U.S-Mexico-Canada Agreement, and puts crucial wheat demand in Mexico at great risk.

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PolicyJennifer Elwell
UK ag economists offer info for farmers dealing with financial challenges

“Since farmers make up only 2% of the population, it can be easy to overlook the struggles that many farmers are currently facing regarding tight profit margins, cash-flow issues and potentially declining net worth,” said Jonathan Shepherd, extension farm management specialist in the UK Department of Agricultural Economics. “These resources will give farmers things to consider if exiting or scaling down their operation size is in their best interest under the current agricultural economic downturn.”

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Jennifer Elwell
KySGGA Mourns the Loss of Influential Farm Leader

It is with great sadness that we report the passing of Don Halcomb, one of Kentucky agriculture's most influential farmer leaders. Don was instrumental in organizing the Kentucky Small Grain Growers Association and served as the first president in 1989. Once he saw the passage of the Small Grain referendum, he served as chairman of the Small Grain Promotion Council for more than 25 years.

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Jennifer Elwellar2019
Christian County Tops Kentucky Wheat Production

Kentucky farmers harvested 19.8 million bushels of winter wheat during the summer of 2018, down seventeen percent from 2017. Yield is 66 bushels per acre, down eleven bushels from 2017. Farmers harvested 300,000 acres for grain, and another 150,000 acres were used as cover crop, cut as forage or abandoned. Kentucky ranks 18th in U.S. wheat production. 

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ProductionJennifer Elwell
Farm Bill Passes

The National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) applauds the Senate and House of Representatives for their quick action and bipartisan votes on the Farm Bill conference report, and call on President Trump to sign the bill into law as quickly as possible.

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PolicyJennifer Elwell
Wheat Outlook for 2018-2019 and Preliminary 2019-2020 Projections

For wheat, the supply estimates have been mostly finalized by October with adjustments in January’s final projections for the crop-year.  USDA projects the 2018 wheat yield at 47.6 bushels/acre, a 1.3-bushel increase over 2017, on 39.6 million harvested acres. USDA projects total wheat production at 1.88 billion bushels. The larger wheat crop is off-set by a smaller carry-in and reduced imports with supply projected to increase by 45 million bushels from 2017-18 (Table 1).

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Research on managing Fusarium head blight (scab) of wheat and barley with foliar fungicides

The overall objective of the research trials were to develop the best recommendations for managing Fusarium head blight (FHB; also known as scab) and the associated mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON; also known as vomitoxin) with foliar fungicides. The specific objective of each trial differed, and details and results of these trials are provided below.

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Fall 2018 Wheat Planting Decision

Compared to last year there is a modest increase in wheat prices, and a significant decrease in soybean prices. These changes will make planting wheat more attractive relative to last year. The following analysis attempts to quantify the extent of the relative change in profitability for crops harvested in 2019.

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MarketingJennifer Elwell
Wheat, Double-crop Soybeans Look Profitable in 2019

As Kentucky grain producers look ahead to 2019, they may want to consider adding wheat seeding to their plans this fall. The combination of wheat followed by double-crop soybeans is appearing to be more profitable for the upcoming marketing year compared to a corn-soybean rotation, said Todd Davis, University of Kentucky agricultural economist.

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Jennifer Elwell