Mixed variety selection can help farmers with crop risk

Michigan State University’s wheat breeder is encouraging farmers to use multiple varieties to spread their risk.

Eric Olsen tells Brownfield that using different maturing crops each year allows growers to extend fieldwork and the length of harvest.

“You can spread that out over a couple of days instead of having to cover 500 to 1,000 acres in one day,” he says.

Olsen is excited to see success in pre-harvest sprout and scab-resistant variety trials that he says will also help mitigate quality issues.

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