Wheat that was dusted in back in the late fall is just starting to emerge.  The area affected runs from south of Garden City and into the majority of the Oklahoma panhandle.  It runs from the Colorado line in the west and as far east as Dodge City and Meade.  There is still potential in this crop but it will not yield what it could have if moisture conditions at planting had been better.  Irrigated wheat in this same area is in much better condition but this only represents about 10% of the total wheat acres.  With colder temperatures and a lack of snow cover there is some concern that this late  wheat will be more prone to winter kill.  In my opinion this is a minor concern as the winter losses in the past to the Kansas and Oklahoma wheat crops have actually come in the early spring and not from absolute cold temperatures in the winter months.

There are still no serious pest concerns.  Some of the earliest planted fields have low levels of Cherry Aphids but at this point there are no greenbug or russian wheat aphid threats.