March 10, 2009
Dry winter threatens Kansas wheat crop
Farmers in some parts of Kansas are concerned about the condition of their wheat crop due to the dry winter.
About 15 percent of the wheat crop was in poor to very serious condition because of dry weather, according to a recent report by the Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service.
Wheat in western Kansas is of particular concern, as warm temperatures there for the past few days have not been favourable to the crop, said Dusti Fritz, chief executive of the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers.
Fritz said there is currently not much moisture in the soil, which the wheat crop requires at this time of the year.
In southwestern Kansas, February rainfall was only 34 percent of normal and only 22 percent of normal since the beginning of the year, Kansas climatologist Mary Knapp said.
Still, the Climate Prediction Center found there is no strong climate signal that states wetness, dryness, hotness or coldness.
Fritz also said weather forecasts over the next few days show there is hope for rain in southwestern Kansas, which is usually the largest wheat producer in the state.
