MT. VERNON, Ill. — Winter wheat may not have enjoyed the long commodities price ride that corn has seen in recent years, but those who grow it regularly say the crop could see its own uptick in the near future.

So said Steve Stallman, as he prepares to host the Illinois Wheat Assoc. (IWA) annual Winter Wheat Forum in Mt. Vernon early next month. “Our acres ended up being down a little bit this year, which caught some folks here by surprise. 

A lot of what was in the USDA annual report surprised a lot of people, but overall, wheat is doing fairly well,” said Stallman, IWA president.

Before corn prices skyrocketed, winter wheat acres planted in Illinois topped the 1 million mark as late as the 2007 growing season. This year, the state’s total will come in at around 700,000 acres. Other states, such as Kentucky and Nebraska, posted healthy gains in acreage that helped lead to an overall increase in acres planted throughout the country.

According to the USDA, all wheat planted totaled about 58.5 million acres, up about 7 percent over last season’s total.

“Without question, wheat and most commodities are still very profitable,” Stallman said. “We hope to see that continue in the near future.”

One of the topics to be discussed during the annual forum is a Stallman favorite: The profitability of growing wheat with double-crop beans. In southern Illinois, and in Stallman’s home area in Randolph County, the hotter and more humid conditions and variable soils have made the wheat/double-beans combination a big winner, he said.

Louis Aldag, with Aldag and Associates in Mt. Vernon, will lead the first forum discussion regarding wheat and double-soybeans, detailing crop budgets and price history in recent years.

Also on the forum agenda is Jody Lawrence, president of Strategic Trading Advisors in Franklin, Tenn. Lawrence’s presentation, titled “Putting Together the 2012 Puzzle,” will look at how South American weather, Chinese supply and demand and the European Union debt crisis have set the stage for another crazy year with commodities.

Don Hershman, an extension plant pathologist with the University of Kentucky, will address head scab and how it can be successfully managed.

“The board makes it a point to have a wide variety of topics covered during the forum, and we also want to make sure we have experts from all over, not just from Illinois,” Stallman said.

In addition to browsing a wide variety of exhibitors, participants also can attend the association’s annual meeting, which takes place at the conclusion of the forum.
 

Registration begins at 8 a.m. Feb. 10 at the forum location, Krieger’s/Holiday Inn Convention Center in Mt. Vernon, with sessions starting at 9 a.m. IWA members can register for $12; registration for anyone else is $20.

For more information, contact Diane Handley at 309-557-3662 or go to www.illinoiswheat.org