http://droughtreporter.unl.edu/

v 2.4.3.0

Drought in Kansas has farmers concerned that lower winter wheat production will barely cover input costs. Crop experts anticipate the yield to fall by more than 100 million bushels from 2021, which would be worth more than $1.2 billion at present commodity prices. Drought hurt wheat in the western part of the state most as precipitation was lowest there. Recent rain may help finish filling out wheat berries, but will not help the wheat crop much. The Kansas Wheat Tour projects a harvest of 261 million bushels of wheat from an estimated 7.4 million acres of planted wheat last fall. The average yield is expected to be 39.7 bushels per acre, with a higher-than-normal abandonment rate of 11%. In 2021, Kansas’ average yield was 52 bushels per acre with a production of 364 million bushels for the most produced in any state. A projected drop in yield of 103 million bushels from last year's figure, at $12 a bushel for hard red winter wheat, would be more than $1.2 billion in lost production. The Topeka Capital-Journal (Kan.), June 2, 2022 Kansas wheat is expected to yield less than it would have with normal precipitation, but high commodity prices still give farmers hope. The western part of the state in particular went months without much rain. A wheat grower in Harvey County stated that prolonged drought kept his wheat from growing to its potential. KWCH 12 (Wichita, Kan.), June 2, 2022