Agricultural News
Wheat Scouts Work Through Muddy Fields and Drought Stressed Wheat at Kansas Wheat Crop Tour
Wed, 06 May 2015 05:56:16 CDT
Day one of the Kansas Wheat Crop Tour is in the books- and the average numbers for all stops for Day One came in slightly under the average of 2014- 34.3 bushels per acre this year versus 34.7 bushels in 2014. This year's number is the lowest since 2001.
A total of 92 scouts checked 284 fields in the first day of scouting that ended up last night in northwest Kanasas. Yield-robbing diseases, particularly stripe rust, were apparent in fields in north-central Kansas. Scouts on one route of the Wheat Quality Council's tour found light to moderate stripe rust in three of the first five fields checked.
Since wet conditions tend to help diseases spread, pressure on yields may increase in some areas after heavy rains fell Monday parts of Kansas, the top U.S. winter wheat producer. The diseases may offset the moisture's benefits.
Reuters quotes Justin Gilpin of the Kansas Wheat Commission as saying "The rain is definitely going to benefit the crop, but we are seeing a lot of variability. The high-end yield potential isn't there."
However- the rains that the scouts worked around will likely benefit the crop to some extent. "I think the rain made bad wheat look not quite as bad," said Jim Shroyer, retired wheat extension specialist for K-State Research and Extension (KSRE). "This rain was easily worth millions of dollars for this year's wheat crop."
To read a full summary of Day One of the Tour across north central Kansas and a little bit of southern Nebraska- click here.
(picture tweeted out by US Wheat Associates on Day One of Tour)
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