Wheat continues to play an increasingly larger role in mid-valley agricultural production, nearly 100 farmers were told Wednesday morning during the annual field day held at Oregon State University's Hyslop Farm between Corvallis and Albany on Highway 20.

"The number of acres planted to wheat has skyrocketed the last couple years," OSU's Jim Peterson said. "There were about 100,000 bushels of wheat seed sold primarily in the mid-valley this year."

Peterson, a professor of wheat breeding and genetics, said maturation of the south valley's wheat crop is running seven to 10 days behind normal due to weather conditions.

Peterson said farmers have planted about 100,000 acres to wheat this year. Five years ago, wheat accounted for only about 20,000 acres. Peterson said a depressed grass seed market, higher wheat prices and the fact that wheat is a cash crop - growers are paid upon delivery to dealers - have contributed to the boom.

Increased world demand and droughts in key international wheat-producing countries pushed the price of wheat in early 2008 to a record high of $24 per bushel. At other times, the price was in the range of $13 to $16 a bushel. This week, wheat is trading about in the $6 a bushel range, down markedly from a year ago, but still relatively strong.

Also, several new varieties of wheat that perform extremely well in the mid-valley have been released to growers in the past five years, Peterson said.

"We've released nine new wheat varieties since 2002 and Goetze is really targeted for the mid-valley," Peterson said.

Goetze is a soft winter wheat released two years ago and has had a big effect on mid-valley production. It has excellent yield potential and is disease-resistant. Other varieties that are doing well in the mid-valley include Tubbs and Tubbs 06.

New wheat varieties are in the pipeline and are currently being tested at the farm, Peterson said. They include varieties from France and England that show excellent disease resistance and high yield potential.

"We believe you might see a 20 percent yield increase from these varieties," Peterson said. "You're going to be happy with these varieties."

Among the other topics for the day were wheat disease issues, long-term ryegrass trial update, cereal quality, weed management, spring oil seed crop production, improving meadowfoam genetics, native pollinators and bees, and using seed moisture content as a harvest management tool.

The field day gives area farmers the opportunity to gather a lot of information in a short amount of time, sponsors said.

"The field day has been going on longer than I've been with Oregon State University and that's 31 years," said Extension Seed Specialist Bill Young. "It showcases the work we've got under way from each of the various groups that work here."

Alex Paul can be contacted at alex.paul@lee.net or by calling 758-9526.