A wheat specialist says Michigan’s harvest is expected to start before July if development keeps up, but stripe rust remains a challenge.

Michigan State University Extension’s Dennis Pennington tells Brownfield, “This year our first flowering date that we collected was 11 days earlier than it was last year, so I think our crop across the state is probably between 10 to 14 days ahead of normal.”

He says growers can see what varieties have the best resistance to stripe rust at their Huron and Gratiot County research plots as part of this week’s Michigan Wheat Program regional field days.

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