US Winter Wheat Farmers Fret After Weekend Freeze
Date: 10-Apr-07
Country: US
Author: Carey Gillam
But that changed over the weekend when unseasonable freezing temperatures blanketed the US Plains and Midwest winter wheat growing areas, killing off some of the rapidly maturing plants.
"Before this happened we were looking at a really big, big crop. Now we're not going to have that," said Kansas Association of Wheat Growers-Kansas Wheat Commission spokesman Aaron Harries.
Kansas is the largest US wheat producer, with an estimated 10.3 million acres planted to winter wheat this season, 23 percent of the country's total.
The frigid air that swept through the nation's midsection also blasted the next two largest winter wheat-growing states of Oklahoma and Texas, with more than 12 million planted acres of wheat combined. Temperatures slid from the balmy 70s and 80s (degrees Fahrenheit) in mid-March to below 20 degrees over the weekend.
Lows ranged from 17 to 26 degrees Fahrenheit in Kansas, 24 to 31 F in the Texas Panhandle, 26 to 35 F in Oklahoma and 29 to 35 in north-central Texas, according to forecaster Joel Burgio with DTN Meteorlogix weather service.
The plunge in temperatures and speculation about crop damage sent wheat futures prices soaring at the opening bell on Monday. The new-crop July KWN7> contract at the Kansas City Board of Trade climbed 28 cents to US$4.95 a bushel because of the concerns.
There were mixed views in the country about how extensive damage to the new crop could be. Levels of crop losses will depend on a range of variables including soil moisture and/or snow cover and the stage of plant development in different areas, industry experts said.
Moreover, though some farmers already were reporting brown-edged leaves and some stalks sagging under a weakened cell structure, it was expected to take at least two weeks to determine how badly wheat plants have been hit.
"The wheat was in a fairly vulnerable state," said Kansas State University agronomist Jim Shroyer. "Was it cold enough to do damage? Yeah, it was cold enough. But to say the whole crop is wiped out would be an exaggeration."
Oklahoma Wheat Commission executive director Mark Hodges said that state's best wheat was in the southwest area, which appeared to have escaped much damage. But the rest of the state likely suffered, he said.
Weather conditions the rest of the growing season will determine the ultimate outcome for the new crop, generally harvested in June and July.
There was some talk about farmers tearing up damaged wheat fields in time to plant corn, which is in high demand amid competition between ethanol, livestock feed and food sectors.
Emerson Nafziger, extension agronomist at the University of Illinois, said winter wheat in southern Illinois was hit hard by the freeze and he expects farmers to give up on their wheat.
"I think it's going to be bad. In a lot of cases, there's little chance the crop will come back. I think a fair amount of wheat will be planted to another crop."
(Additional reporting by Lisa Haarlander in Chicago)
