Last week saw much needed rainfall across Kansas, but areas in southwest Kansas missed out once again.
Much of southwest Kansas has gone nearly 300 days without an inch of precipitation. Annual average rainfall is about 12 inches in southwest Kansas, and much of the area has seen about 1/3 of that over the past year and less than an inch since wheat was planted in the fall.
There are several counties in the far southwest corner of Kansas where very little wheat will make it to harvest.
Farmers have already been in touch with their crop adjusters, and fields are being adjusted from zero to 5 bushels/acre across the area.
Lack of rainfall since fall planting, combined with vicious winds throughout the winter have taken a toll on the wheat and the soil.
No-till farmers have had to chisel the soil to bring up clods to hold the topsoil in place.
At Skyland Grain in Johnson, Justin Ochs reports there isn’t much optimism in the area right now.
Skyland’s Agronomy department is waiting on farmers to make the decision to start planting fall crops. They are holding out, waiting and desperately hoping for some moisture to get those crops started.
The Wheat Quality Council will host the Hard Winter Wheat Tour May 16-19. Participants will scout fields from Manhattan to Colby to Wichita and back to Manhattan. Follow #wheattour22 on Twitter to see what conditions they see across Kansas, southern Nebraska and northern Oklahoma.
Read the full report at Kansas Wheat.
