Recent unseasonably warm weather across Kansas has boosted the maturation rate for the state's winter wheat crop, but that's not necessarily a good thing, a Kansas State University agronomist said.

"When people ask me if warm weather at this time of year is good for winter wheat, I tell them, ‘No,'" said Jim Shroyer, wheat production specialist with K-State Research and Extension. "Wheat is a cool- season crop. It needs a more gradual transition from winter to spring for it to perform at its best."

Moisture needs are greater for wheat that is growing rapidly than for wheat coming out of dormancy more slowly, he explained.

When wheat moves out of its dormant state and grows under such warm conditions, it also becomes much more vulnerable to a cold snap. And, given that it's still just March, plenty of opportunities remain for temperatures to fall rapidly this spring, Shroyer said.

"People are pleased with the wheat prospects so far this year," he said

For much of the state, wet conditions have prevailed, so top dressing has been slow, Shroyer said. In contrast, some western Kansas areas are experiencing dry pockets.

He added that in the last several years, Kansas wheat as a whole has tended to mature faster than the long-term average.

This year's rapid wheat growth is particularly worrisome because the average last freeze in Kansas is in mid-April, said Mary Knapp.

Knapp, who is the state climatologist for Kansas, said last year Kansas winter wheat was hit by two periods of freezing weather in May.

During the first two weeks of March this year, temperatures in numerous locations around the state averaged 6 to 7 degrees above normal, while average low temperatures were in the 26 to 27 degree range, said Knapp, who is in charge of the Kansas Weather Data Library, housed on the K-State campus.

"Something else that people might want to be aware of is that the U.S. Climate Prediction Center has forecast that the southern Plains will have cooler than usual and wetter than usual weather during the March-through-May period," she said.

On March 14, the Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service rated the condition of Kansas wheat at 4 percent poor to very poor, 27 percent fair, 55 percent good, and 14 percent excellent. Four percent of the wheat was jointed - 1 point more than last year's percentage, but the same as the five-year average.

The service's wheat freeze-damage report indicated that 84 percent of the state's wheat crop had not been damaged, 14 percent had light damage, and 2 percent was moderately damaged.

"Early reports estimate that 2 percent of Kansas wheat has been lost to winterkill," the KASS report said. "Nineteen percent of the wheat crop had light wind damage, and 4 percent had moderate wind damage."

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K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus in Manhattan.