Winter wheat planting declines in Kansas

Kansas farmers planted the fewest number of winter wheat acres in the past 52 years, as wheat prices plunged to a low.

Kansas seeded 9 million acres, down 600,000 acres from the previous year, and is the lowest since 1957, said Eddie Wells, a statistician for the Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service (KASS).

Wheat acreage remains stable in western Kansas, but is down 11 percent and at least 10 percent in north-central areas and eastern sections, respectively, said Wells.

The decline in acreage is not surprising, as producers were planting and securing seed just as wheat prices started falling and when fertiliser and other input prices were still high, said Dusti Fritz, chief executive officer for the Kansas Wheat Commission.

Nationwide, winter wheat seedings for the upcoming wheat crop were down 9 percent to 42.1 million acres, said the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).

North Dakota planted 530,000 acres, down 100,000 acres from 2008, the USDA said. However, autumn weather in North Dakota provided good planting conditions and the 2009 crop could be the second largest since 1985.

Soft red winter wheat fell 26 percent on-year nationwide, while white winter wheat seedings grew 1 percent on-year to 3.62 million acres.

Kansas is the largest wheat producer in the US.