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Record drought and cold temps likely had significant damage to US wheat crop

Record drought and abnormally cold temperatures may have put the US winter wheat crop in jeopardy.

Chris Tanner is a farmer with the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers and says his crop is trying to emerge from dormancy. “And, some of it hasn’t emerged yet.  We had a major temperature swing really fast, and where we have adequate moisture, we might have some winter kill.”

Speaking to Brownfield at the Commodity Classic, the Northwest Kansas farmer says there has been some relief to drought. “I think things are holding on, but we’ll see what happens when it breaks dormancy over the next few weeks.”

Senior grains and oilseeds analyst Steve Nicholson with Rabobank says famers in the Great Plains may face a similar story in 2023. “That crop looks pretty tough.  It had a lot of wind this winter. Stuff literally blew out of the ground.  It hasn’t tillered very well. There is a lot of concern going forward that is going to be challenged just like a year ago.”

Nicholson says the soft red winter wheat crop is in slightly better shape due to an increase in moisture in the Upper Midwest and the Ohio Valley, but subsoil moisture is an issue.