Tour projects highest Kansas wheat yield since 2021 as drought eases
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By Heather Schlitz
MANHATTAN, Kansas, May 16 (Reuters) -Scouts on an annual tour of Kansas wheat fields projected better-than-average yields in the top U.S. winter wheat state, reflecting improved moisture after several years of drought.
U.S. production carries increased significance as poor weather threatens crops in Russia, the world's biggest wheat exporter, lifting K.C. hard red winter wheat futures KWv1 to their highest in nearly eight months this week.
The tour estimated Kansas wheat's yield potential at 46.5 bushels per acre (bpa) after scouting 449 fields over three days. The figure is the highest since 2021 and falls above the five-year tour average of 42.4 bpa from 2018-2023. No tour was held in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Participants in the tour estimated 2024 Kansas wheat production at 290.4 million bushels. The U.S. Agriculture Department on May 10 estimated the Kansas crop at 267.9 million bushels with an average yield of 38.0 bushels per acre.
Wheat quality varied drastically across the state, scouts said. Dryness in some fields caused bald patches; drooping, yellow leaves; and cracked ground. Other fields were green, lush and growing so thick that the ground was barely visible. Scouts noted stripe rust, a yield-robbing disease, in some areas.
Wheat in the drier south-central and southwestern portions of Kansas was in poorer condition than other areas.
Still, scouts said the improved overall harvest prospects offer a welcome reprieve from the drought-hit crops of the last two years.
"If the weather holds up, we'll have a high quality crop," said Brian Walker, a director at the non-profit National Wheat Foundation.
Though recent rains have eased dryness in the U.S. Plains, the moisture hasn't been enough to completely lift the drought, scouts said.
"It takes a lot to get out of a drought," Walker said.
Hard red winter wheat makes up the vast majority of wheat grown in Kansas, and is mostly used to bake bread due to its high protein content.
Reporting by Heather Schlitz in Manhattan, Kansas. Editing by Jane Merriman
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