BOTTOM LINE WEATHER POINTS
– Rain delays have stalled Kansas corn harvest by approximately 2 weeks.
– Current peg of 493.2 million bushels is 5% lower than last year's crop.
– Kansas corn acreage at 3.8 million, down 300,000 from last month's figures.
– Rain delays have stalled Kansas corn harvest by approximately 2 weeks.
– Current peg of 493.2 million bushels is 5% lower than last year's crop.
– Kansas corn acreage at 3.8 million, down 300,000 from last month's figures.
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Mother Nature is once again casting a dark cloud over corn farmers' expectations in Kansas. Unwelcome rainfall has hindered corn harvests across the state, further dousing hopes for a record crop this year.
The Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service announced that corn production in the state is now expected to be 6 percent lower than last month's forecast. The new peg of 493.2 million bushels is 5 percent lower than last year's crop, according to the Associated Press.
Further dampening state corn prospects is a recent reassessment of how many acres of corn were initially planted. The Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service now estimates the state's corn acreage at 3.8 million, down 300,000 acres from last month's figures and down 100,000 acres from a year ago.
While Kansas corn is still expected to produce a larger than average yield, the recent rain delays have all but extinguished hope of a record-breaking harvest. Pratt County Extension Agent Mark Ploger estimates that the rain has put corn two weeks behind schedule, according to the Pratt Tribune.
There is, however, a silver lining for wheat growers in the state.
“The rains couldn’t come any better for wheat in the ground,” said Ploger. “It’s perfect for wheat farmers."
The wheat harvest this season brought in 356 million bushels, about 25 percent higher last season's freeze-stricken crop.
Among other Kansas crops, the sorghum forecast of 209 million bushels is unchanged from a month ago and down 1 percent from last year.
Kansas' sunflower production is estimated at 310.8 million pounds. That represents a 33 percent increase from a year ago.
The latest government forecast now pegs the nation's corn production at 12.2 billion bushels, or 7 percent below last year's crop.
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