General Production Information

Hard red winter wheat is produced throughout Nebraska; however, 75 % of the wheat production is in the western half of the state, with approximately 45 % grown in the Panhandle. Approximately 92 % of the winter wheat acreage is in dryland production. Because most of the wheat is grown in an arid region (ca. 14-21 inches annual rainfall), water availability is the limiting factor in wheat production in western Nebraska. In 1999, Nebraska ranked 6th in the United States in winter wheat production. Wheat acreage runs around 2 million acres with 1.8 million harvested in 1999 (Table 1). Record wheat yields were seen in 1999 at 48 bushels per acre. Total production for 1999 was 86.4 million bushels. Few acres of spring wheat are produced in Nebraska because it matures later in the summer than winter wheat resulting reduced yields due to heat stress. Some Nebraska growers are beginning to grow hard white winter wheat, but current acreage is less than 10,000 acres. This is projected to increase in the future, but will be limited by the handling and identity preservation capabilities of the marketing system