Winter wheat crop conditions are running well below a year ago many of the major hard red winter wheat production states as the crop prepares to come out of dormancy.  The most recent Drought Monitor shows nearly three-quarters of the wheat belt is in some level of drought.  SDSU Extension Agronomist Jonathan Kleinjan says it has been a persistently dry pattern through the winter.

He says South Dakota is also plagued by drought but he hasn’t totally given up on the crop.

Kleinjan is also getting questions about planting spring wheat, especially with prices much higher than a year ago.

Kleinjan and representatives from the major wheat producing states compared notes at the Wheat Quality Council Annual Meeting in Kansas City.