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Nebraska farmer shifting from winter wheat to spring wheat

Winter wheat has long been a staple of farming in southwest Nebraska. But some farmers in that area are experimenting with spring planting of wheat.

Shawn Sullivan, who farms near Wallace, Nebraska, says he’s looking for an alternative to the traditional wheat-corn-summer fallow rotation.

“Leaving ground idle doesn’t pay the bills, whether it’s land taxes or equipment costs or putting food on the table,” Sullivan says. “That’s definitely not very lucrative and you’ve seen a huge downshift in wheat acres because of that.”

At the same time, Sullivan says he still likes having wheat as part of his crop rotation.

Ideally, spring wheat should be planted in March, Sullivan says. That hasn’t happened yet this spring due to wet soil conditions, but he says there’s still time.

“Last year people got some wheat in almost the first week of April and it, comparatively, yielded just as good as their winter wheat that they put in in the fall.”

Winter wheat acres in Nebraska have declined steadily over the past decade. USDA projects this year’s acreage at 930-thousand, the lowest since record-keeping began.

AUDIO: Shawn Sullivan

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