Kansas Wheat Tour Reveals Extreme Drought Damage

The annual Wheat Quality Council’s Hard Winter Wheat tour throughout Kansas has begun. DTN Editor Joel Reichenberger reports that day two in the state’s southwest corner yielded no fieldwork as the wheat hovered between life and death. He reports the wheat, sown last fall, appeared too small and sparse to make a crop but too dry to use for anything besides waiting for life-saving rain.

Day two continued the trend of day one, showing depressed yield outlooks for most of the drought-stricken state. Kansas Wheat CEO Justin Gilpin says about 50% of the wheat in the area isn’t going to be harvested, with southwest Kansas suffering the brunt of the drought. The tour is moving east to Wichita now, where stands appear to be stronger and likely to be harvested.

Read more on Kansas wheat conditions here.