ligora/Getty Images NO PROTECTION: Wheat growers who saw cold temperature and little snow will need to scout this year’s winter wheat crop for damage. Snow actually provides some type of insulation for soil temperatures. Full exposure to negative temperature can hurt young wheat plants. Frigid temperatures with no snow cover create concerns for late-planted winter wheat. Mar 03, 2021 Winterkill may be a concern for Kansas wheat growers this year. The biggest potential for winterkill to the wheat crop is in fields that emerged in late October or afterward, where snow cover was limited to less than 2 inches; and in regions which soil temperatures reached the low teens to single digits. Those regions of greatest concern are central Kansas because of its limited snow depth, and northwest Kansas due to its extremely cold temperatures.