It’s white knuckle time in the Kansas wheat belt as farmers hold on for
snow or rain and ponder using the ejection seat to get out of a
crashing winter wheat crop.
“We’re still in the throes of a pretty good drought,” said Kansas State
University agronomist Jim Shroyer.
“We’re not going to have a bumper crop unless everything goes right
from this point on.”
Kansas is the largest wheat-producing state and the condition of its
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Farmers there had warm temperatures and plenty of soil moisture at
planting, Shroyer said.
“For one month we were rocking and rolling, everything was looking
pretty good.”
But warm weather continued without any moisture.
The growing crops used up the soil moisture, didn’t go dormant until
almost Christmas, and provided a good home for grain bugs.
Some fields began showing drought stress. In the driest parts of
southwestern Kansas the soil was so parched that the crop still hasn’t
emerged.
After the crop went dormant, producers put their hopes in heavy
snowfall, Shroyer said. Most got some snow and some got sleet, but it
wasn’t enough to make up the moisture deficit.
That leaves a patchy, vulnerable crop and producers face tough choices.
“A lot of wheat is in the middle. It could go either way.”
Soon farmers will have to decide whether to persevere with the
drought-stressed wheat, or start fresh with a spring crop.
