"The 2009 wheat crop is projected to average 59 bushels per acre, seven bushels lower than last year's crop," says Robert Bellm, University of Illinois Extension crop systems educator. The decrease is primarily due to adverse weather conditions during flowering. Grain quality and test weight were disappointing as well.

In spite of this, wheat remains a viable and profitable crop, and it adds diversification to cropping systems that focus primarily on corn and soybean.

In fact, based on projected net returns of different cropping systems, Bellm says that wheat-doublecrop soybeans may be more profitable than soybeans alone this coming year. As an added benefit, diversified crop rotations can minimize the negative impact of adverse weather, disease, or insect outbreaks compared to a mono-crop rotation.

For growers planning to include wheat in the rotation next year, variety information and yield results from University of Illinois' 2009 Wheat Performance Trials is now available online at
http://vt.cropsci.uiuc.edu/. You can also visit the SI Agriculture website for results from the Ewing Demonstration Center in Southern Illinois.