Smallest Kansas wheat crop since 1996, tour says | Food and Environment Reporting Network

Kansas, often the No 1 wheat state in the nation, will reap its smallest harvest since 1996 due to drought and freeze damage, scouts estimated at the end of the annual wheat tour. The crop was pegged at 260.7 mln bu with an avg yield of 33.2 bu/ac, said Bloomberg, compared to 319.2 mln bu last year with a statewide yield of 38.0 bu/ac. “Output…would be the lowest since 255.2 mln (bu) in 1996.” Analysts had expected a crop of 299 mln bu.

The Agriculture Department will make its first estimate of the winter wheat crop on May 9 with harvest expected to begin within a few weeks. Persistent drought in the central and southern Plains could crimp U.S. wheat production.

Besides Kansas, scouts heard reports about the wheat crop in Nebraska, Oklahoma and Colorado, DTN reported earlier this week. Yields in Nebraska and Colorado were expected to be higher than last year while Oklahoma might harvest 66.5 mln bu vs 105 mln bu last year, a 37 pct drop, said a grain industry official.