Are heat and dryness causing problems for the wheat country?

What weather does winter wheat need to grow? "Wheat does not like it to be too moist in the fall for sowing," explains the State Agricultural Agency of Hesse. Negative temperatures in the single digits can be fine in winter. Rather dry and radiation-rich weather phases are good in spring. "From May, an adequate water supply is crucial so that the already laid yield organs can develop well," it says. "In recent years, however, increasing early summer heat periods have impaired wheat development during the crucial phase of grain formation. In June and July, the weather should be radiation-rich but not too hot for good yields and qualities." Hesse, with its location in a temperate climate zone, basically offers favorable natural conditions for wheat cultivation, explains Marco Schneider, the plant cultivation advisory team of the State Agency. And how was it this year? "With climate change, weather extremes such as prolonged dry periods, heat or heavy rainfall are increasing," writes ...