WBRZ - Baton Rouge

BATON ROUGE - Louisiana's winter has been warmer and wetter than usual making it tough on the state's wheat crop, which is midway through its growing season

LSU AgCenter wheat specialist Ed Twidwell says wet conditions aren't good for wheat. He says the grain doesn't like poorly drained soils.

Twidwell says the rain also reduces tillering - additional sprouts that emerge from the base of the plants - and causes nitrogen to leach from the soil. He says about 30,000 of the 250,000 acres planted may be lost to rain.

And, AgCenter wheat breeder Steve Harrison says a recent freeze may have damaged some of the early planted and early maturing varieties. He estimates about 20 percent of the crop was affected by the recent cold temperatures.