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Area farmers look for more moisture
Published 12/12/2007
By STEPHANIE FARLEY
sfarley@gctelegram.com
The 2007 wheat harvest was amazing for some producers in southwest Kansas — the question now is will the 2008 wheat harvest even compare to that.
Finney County Extension Agent Dean Whitehill said Tuesday a large portion of the area’s wheat was under stress this fall, with the dry weather either not allowing wheat to emerge from the ground or keeping the wheat from emerging because of a lack of a good root system to hold it in place.
This time last year, the potential wheat crop looked much better, Whitehill said, with good growth and emergence.
The moisture from last winter’s ice and snow storm played a “major, major role” in the good outcome of the 2007 wheat harvest for southwest Kansas, Whitehill said, adding the area’s recent moisture was desperately needed.
“But we’ll need some more as the winter goes along, though,” Whitehill said.
According to state climatologist Mary Knapp, on Tuesday .56 of an inch of precipitation was reported 10 miles south of Garden City; .6 of an inch near Syracuse; .68 of an inch near Ingalls; .45 of an inch near Deerfield; and almost an inch in areas near Cimarron.
“Not too terribly bad,” she said of the amount of moisture.
Knapp said at the beginning of the week, 44 percent of the state, including the western third and south-central parts, was considered to be in a type of drought category but that recent moisture should bring some areas back to where they need to be.
Knapp said the moisture in early 2007 “was tremendous for western Kansas” and greatly helped the wheat and fall harvests for southwest Kansas.
Jay Garetson, general manager for Providence Grain, said the lack of moisture created the potential for soil erosion from wind and for wheat plants without a solid root system to literally blow out of the ground.
Even with ice, Garetson said, the recent moisture is welcome because it’s been dry for so long, adding, though, the recent precipitation “sure isn’t putting it in the bin yet.”
If the moisture continues, Garetson said, the chances for better yields for the 2008 wheat crop will improve greatly.
Roger Barnhardt, who farms in parts of Hamilton County, said his land received some moisture before the recent weather and that his wheat has come up.
“Just blind luck’s all it was,” Barnhardt said of the previous moisture. “And I’m grateful for it.”
He said the plant wasn’t perfect but that he’s still hopeful, optimistic for the 2008 wheat harvest.
Barnhardt said 2008 will be “hard pressed” to live up to it.
He said he didn’t have to drive too far from his farm to see wheat not doing well or that has not come up yet.
Curtis Thompson, with K-State Research and Extension, said the irrigated wheat still was on track for a good harvest and that the recent moisture for dryland wheat “can only help.”
But with the dryness, Thompson said, the setup for dryland wheat harvest is completely different from the 2007 harvest.
“We don’t have a chance to ever get there,” he said of the higher wheat yields experienced this past harvest.
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