Released: June 06, 2001

Rains Help Kansas Wheat, But Many Acres Still Struggling

MANHATTAN, Kan. – With the harvest in southern counties just around the corner, recent rain and cool weather aided some Kansas wheat fields, although crop conditions generally remain below average, said Kansas State University agricultural economist Bill Tierney.

Tierney, who is a crops marketing specialist with K-State Research and Extension, uses weekly government crop condition and progress data in a crop condition index he developed.

"For the week of June 3, the crop condition index for Kansas wheat is 287. That’s up16 points from two weeks ago," he said. However, the figure is below the 311 index a year ago and well below the 336 average posted for this week since 1986.

Although recent lower temperatures and rainfall helped the crop, disease pressure, especially from leaf rust, and hail damage have limited the extent of the crop’s recovery.

Under Tierney’s index, 200 = poor; 300 = fair; 400 = good; and 500 = excellent.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will release wheat yield estimates on June 12, and based on current crop conditions and other information, Tierney expects the USDA data to indicate a wheat crop yield of 35.8 bushels per acre – up from the last USDA estimate of 34 bushels but down from last year’s average yield of 37 bushels.

"Based on the projections of 8.4 million acres harvested and a yield of 35.8, the 2001 Kansas wheat crop is projected to be 300 million bushels," he said. "That’s 48 million less than last year but 14 million bushels above the USDA’s May estimate."

While Kansas has perennially been the key hard red winter wheat producer, other states such as Texas and Montana also contribute to overall production.

Using the latest government data, Tierney’s model indicates that all hard red winter wheat production in the eight primary states could tally 717 million bushels. If realized, that would be one million bushels less than the USDA’s May estimate and 15 percent less than last year.

"That would make [the HRW crop] the smallest since 1967," he said.

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K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan.

Story by:
Mary Lou Peter, Communications Specialist
mlpeter@oznet.ksu.edu
K-State Research& Extension News