Comments on: Climate change threatens future of pasta

By: Richard C (NZ)

Richard C (NZ) — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 04:48:15 +0000

Different varieties RT, requiring different climatic conditions and different planting times, winter and spring e.g. Hard Red Winter likes cold and dry, Soft Red Winter likes humid, Hard Red Spring likes hot and dry:-

Types Of Wheat

http://www.commodityseasonals.com/types_of_wheat.htm

The problem with North Dakota winter wheat was prolonged cold because the plant is vulnerable at planting and just after dormancy i.e. on either side of the normal cold period. From the North Dakota article:-

“Winter wheat is most sensitive to subfreezing temperatures just after planting and in the spring after seedlings break dormancy and start spring growth.”

And,

“While a properly acclimatized winter plant might be able to withstand temperatures as low as minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit in January, it probably will only be able to survive temperatures as low as 5 to 10 degrees in early April, and some varieties that are less winter-hardy may succumb at temperatures as high as 24 degrees,”

And,

“One advantage we have in North Dakota is that the winter wheat still is very small. Winter wheat in states farther south that is jointing is considerably more sensitive to cold injury than winter wheat in the two- to three-leaf stage that is common for most winter wheat in our state.”

By: Richard Treadgold

Richard Treadgold — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 23:51:19 +0000

Yep, the Team’s full of promises.

By: Richard Treadgold

Richard Treadgold — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 23:50:30 +0000

Wheat is a cool-season crop.

Right. So it grows through the summer when it’s warm and is harvested in the autumn as it cools?

By: John Robertson

John Robertson — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 23:05:58 +0000

Every now and then I wish the promised warming was true, in Canada an area larger than Europe would become warm enough to grow cereal crops and the country would boom.
From Edmonton to Great slave Lake on the North South axis and the Rocky Mountains to Hudson Bay,east to west, is black spruce and swamp, 2 degrees warming would make all the difference.
As for wheat being a cold crop, what a maroon.

By: Richard C (NZ)

Richard C (NZ) — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 19:47:21 +0000

“Wheat is a cool-season crop. High temperatures are negative for its growth and quality, no doubt about it,” says Frank Manthey, a professor at North Dakota State University who advises the North Dakota Wheat Commission

Huh?

I search “winter wheat threat from cold” and it turns up ‘Cold Weather Could Threaten Winter Wheat in North Dakota’ from 2007:-

http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/news/newsreleases/2007/april-12-2007/cold-weather-could-threaten-winter-wheat-in-north-dakota/