After a grim start to Spring and a fear of prolonged drought, recent rainfall has helped boost winter wheat crops throughout Kansas, according to a report from the National Agricultural Statistics Service.
The report indicates that Kansas should yield about 272 million bushels of winter wheat, up about 9 percent from last year.
Jim Shroyer is a wheat specialist with the Kansas State Extension Office. He says harvest is still about three weeks out, but farmers are hoping for minimal rainfall when the time comes.
“Last year, it didn’t rain until harvest started. And that was the worst possible thing that could happen to us,” Shroyer said. “Those late rains cause a lot of weed problems.”
Shroyer says any moisture from now until June will be beneficial to the crop, but will only be a burden after.
Wheat farmers will be at odds with those growing corn and soybeans, who need lots of rain going into summer.
