North Dakota Winter Wheat Crop Hit By Disease

Some North Dakota grain elevators are asking farmers to bin their winter wheat crop until a solution can be found to the outbreak of disease in this years crop.

This year's crop is showing high levels of vomitoxin, which is associated with a scab disease that can render the wheat unsafe for consumption.

The wet weather through June and July, the time when the wheat is flowering, created favorable conditions for the development of vomitoxin.

The Bismarck Tribune talked with the General Manager of SunPrairie Grain in Minot, Brad Haugeberg, about what farmers are doing with the infected wheat

"It's between the crop insurance people and the marketplace to figure out what can be utilized and how it can be utilized," he said. "Even the crop insurance people are telling their customers to put it in the bin so they have some time to sort this out."

North Dakota farmers are expected to produce 24.6 million bushels of winter wheat this year. That's only about 3% of the total US crop of winter wheat. North Dakota's staple is spring wheat.

[SOURCE]