Kansas wheat crop falling well short of previous hopes due to drought

SEDGWICK COUNTY Kan. (KWCH) – The Kansas Association of Wheat Growers is touring fields across the state this week to check on the progress of this year’s wheat crop. As of Wednesday, it appears the output is well below what farmers had hoped for.

Sedgwick County farmer Dennis Rau is among those who was optimistic about this year’s wheat crop coming out of winter. A lack of consistent, soil-soaking rain is seeing hopes dashed.

“We’ve gotten some rain but we haven’t got enough to fulfill what we have for potential,” Rau said. “The potential we’ve got now, in my opinion, is about a third of what we hoped for.”

Despite some recent rainfall allowing the crop to push up, walking through Rau’s wheat field tells a disappointing story. Rau is far from alone.

“Last year, my first day average yield was about 10 bushels per acre higher than what my yield was this year. Second day isn’t much better,” said Clay Schemm, a member of the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers and a farmer himself.

Research shows that some farmers have considered or already are abandoning their wheat crop this year, particularly in western Kansas where the drought has hit especially hard.

“The guys that can get insurance on it, they’re going to be destroying this crop as long as the insurance adjuster has come in and said, ‘this isn’t going to make it,’” Schemm said.

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