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Another area of wheat research in its infancy, is the specific ways in which weather impacts wheat. While most growers are certainly familiar with soil moisture, humidity and growing degree days, there are many weather-related impacts throughout the year.
In this section, the researcher looked at overwintering effects and specifically the impacts of ice encasement on overall winter hardiness.
Research by Dr. Emily Holm
The goal of this project is to determine the impact and options for wheat growers in seasons like 2021, where ice encasement and winter desiccation were the primary cause of wheat crop losses. Climate change may contribute to similar growing seasons in the future.
Dr. Holm looked first at the impact of ice encasement followed by spring waterlogging; and second, at whether winter and spring soil moisture conditions impact winter wheat health and, if so, what future research on dry soil conditions would benefit wheat farmers.
The first-year project laid some foundations to better understand the influence of ice encasement and spring waterlogging. Improved water drainage through introduction of organic matter and tiling the field may be options, Dr. Holm reported. Regarding soil moisture, numerous findings about the impact of dry soil in winter or spring and levels of biomass and growth. These 2023 studies were repeated in the 2024 growing season, with results to follow.
Click below to review the 2023 final report.
Research by Dr. Emily Holm, Dr. Eric Olson and Dennis Pennington
In this project Dr. Holm, MSU assistant professor of plant/turf physiology, addressed the problem of winterkill in winter wheat. Her ultimate goals were to develop innovative ways to prepare wheat for better winter survival, and understand wheat traits associated with winter survival such that they could potentially be emphasized in future varietal breeding.
Holm’s lab team in the Plant, Soil, and Microbial Sciences Department selected 11 winter wheat varieties from different regional origins, and evaluated them in 2019-2020. They looked at the wheat’s tolerance to low temperatures when encased in ice and not encased in ice, and evaluated the plants for recovery from the cold treatment. This was to simulate winterkill.
Holm tested whether plant protective treatments or plant growth regulators (PGRs) had an impact on damage or recovery; this work was inconclusive. The author concluded more research was needed.
Click below to review the 2023 final written report on this project.
This one-year project sought to look at negative overwintering impacts on wheat at the cellular level, beyond recent research on low temperatures or freeze-thaw cycle impacts on wheat. Holm sought to explore wheat cells’ tolerance to abnormally high and low winter temperatures and fluctuations therein.
Holm postulated that winter wheat’s hormonal responses to ice encasement and ensuing winter hardiness (or lack thereof), could reveal metabolic and physiological pathways that could be exploited to improve wheat’s resilience over winter. And further whether fall-applied plant growth regulators (PGRs) could improve wheat’s winter survival and health, and whether the industry would accept this treatment.
Click below to review the 2020 PowerPoint slides and final report.
The Michigan Wheat Program is a state-check off program voted in by the state’s wheat farmers to assess each bushel of wheat grown and sold. The funds from the program are utilized to further the wheat industry in the state benefitting the state’s nearly 8,000 wheat farmers who grow about 450,000 acres of wheat annually producing about a 40 million bushel crop.