BISMARCK, N.D., March 2, 2011 – Winter Cereals: Sustainability in Action announces the launch of the initiative's new website, www.wintercereals.us. Here producers can find out why winter wheat is good for their land and good for their operations, as well as get answers to many of their questions about growing the crop.

"This website is designed to be a one-stop resource for producers who want to incorporate winter wheat into their operations," Ducks Unlimited Agronomist Steve Dvorak said. "The site also provides the latest crop information and developments that are important to current winter wheat producers." 

This new website offers resources and information producers need to know about growing winter wheat. Visitors can read current news on the WCSIA program and get dates for upcoming events. Also on the site are seed guides, production guides and testimonials from winter wheat growers. 

"The research section of the site is particularly useful," Dvorak said. "Here people can see results from current and past research from DU and regional universities."

Research studies include winter wheat varieties, soils and fertilizers, diseases and fungicides, previous crops and crop rotations, over-winter survival and general agronomy experiments.

To add another resource to the site, WCSIA is working to create a database of people willing to custom seed winter wheat in Minnesota, North and South Dakota and Montana. Farmers or contractors who are willing to custom seed winter wheat and other fall-seeded crops can enter their information on the website and be included on the custom seeding list. 

"This list of custom seeders will be a valuable resource for producers who want to incorporate winter wheat into their operations but don't have the necessary equipment or time to seed in the fall," DU Senior Agronomist Blake Vander Vorst said. 

Growers can view the latest as well as archived issues of the WCSIA Agronomy News and a sign-up to have the newsletter delivered to their mailbox or e-mail address. Additional highlights of the site include contact information for WCSIA agronomists and links to grain market quotes and local wheat commission sites. 

DU is collaborating with Bayer CropScience on Winter Cereals: Sustainability in Action, a comprehensive effort to promote planting winter wheat in the Prairie Pothole Region. The WCSIA initiative seeks to expand the use of winter wheat as a cropping option for producers and nesting habitat for waterfowl. The initiative promotes a stewardship model for improving the agricultural productivity of farmland while retaining and improving the habitat values important to North America's waterfowl and other wildlife. Winter cereals provide spring nesting cover as well as additional cropping options to growers. 

For more information on WCSIA, visit www.wintercereals.us.










About Ducks Unlimited 

Ducks Unlimited is the world's largest non-profit organization dedicated to conserving North America's continually disappearing waterfowl habitats. Established in 1937, Ducks Unlimited has conserved more than 12 million acres thanks to contributions from more than a million supporters across the continent. Guided by science and dedicated to program efficiency, DU works toward the vision of wetlands sufficient to fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow and forever.

Additional information about Ducks Unlimited is available at www.ducks.org. 

Media contacts:
Becky Jones-Mahlum
701-355-3507
bjonesmahlum@ducks.org

Jennifer P. Kross
701-202-8896
jkross@ducks.org






About Bayer CropScience

Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, nutrition and high-tech materials. Bayer CropScience AG, a subsidiary of Bayer AG with annual sales of about EUR 5.8 billion (2007), is one of the world's leading innovative crop science companies in the areas of crop protection, non-agricultural pest control, seeds and plant biotechnology. The company offers an outstanding range of products and extensive service backup for modern, sustainable agriculture and for non-agricultural applications. Bayer CropScience has a global workforce of about 17,800 and is represented in more than 120 countries. 

Further information on Bayer CropScience US is available at www.bayercropscience.us. 

Media contact:
Beth Roden
919-549-2030
beth.roden@bayercropscience.com