KS Wheat Harvest Estimates Down 23% From 2005 Totals - Glut Of Cutters

[hatrack]

EDIT

On Monday, harvest offices across the state run by the Kansas Department of Commerce noted the lack of work for cutters in their areas. The Bucklin office in Ford County reported it had a surplus of 23 combines and 28 trucks. Dodge City had 19 idled combines and trucks. Several other harvest offices also reported cutters looking for work. Baker said the reports he is getting from custom cutters working in Kansas suggest as many as 20 percent of the wheat acres planted in the state have been abandoned. The remaining fields, most of which usually bring in 40 to 50 bushels per acre, are getting 10 to 15 bushels an acre.

On Friday, the Agriculture Department revised its forecast for the winter wheat crop in Kansas down to 291.4 million bushels. That would make the crop 23 percent smaller than last year's harvest. Kansas is expected to harvest 9.4 million acres, 100,000 fewer a year ago. Nationwide, the agency also revised downward its winter wheat estimate to 1.26 billion bushels, 16 percent below last year. "I think they may be overestimating the crop still," Baker said Monday.

Kansas farmers planted 10.2 million acres of wheat last fall, but drought and freeze damage already have caused farmers to abandon thousands of acres this season. With harvest now under way, the Agriculture Department will again revise its harvested acreage estimate on June 30.

Meanwhile, the harvest is moving quickly across Kansas this year. Crops are maturing faster than normal under drought conditions, and it takes far less time to bring in the sparse harvest. On Monday, the Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service reported 59 percent of the wheat in the state was ripe and 15 percent of the crop has now been harvested. About half of the Kansas winter wheat crop is in very poor to poor condition, the agency said. As for the rest, about 30 percent is in fair condition. Only 18 percent was rated as good and 2 percent as excellent.

EDIT

http://www.latimes.com/business/investing/wire/sns-ap-farm-scene-wheat-harvest,1,5613519.story?coll=sns-ap-investing-headlines

[NYC]

1. An increase in the price of bread?

Is that what we should expect?

[Democrats_win]

2. Drought! In CO, this has been the worst drought I´ve ever seen.

The wheat harvest here is a week or so away. I can´t imagine it will be very good.