Snow in Western KS

K

Kansasoutdoorsman

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I talked to two guys who are doing the statewide wheat survey and it sounds like the adult pheasant and quail came through the snow for the most part ok. They saw a good number of adult birds but noted that the wheat is flat about every where there was more the 5 inches of snow. They said any nests that have start or been laid would be a complete loss. Hope for a strong re-nesting effort.
 
I was getting pictures from the guys on it yesterday. The stuff the where sending and texting was all doom and gloom. Flat fields for miles, today was less grim but they stuff the sent yesterday was UGLY...
 
Kansasoutdoorsman said:
I was getting pictures from the guys on it yesterday. The stuff the where sending and texting was all doom and gloom. Flat fields for miles, today was less grim but they stuff the sent yesterday was UGLY...
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I get updates every day from the tour several times during the day. Wheat price crashed today for a reason. It's at the same price as before the storm. If everything was ugly yesterday, why did they come in with a yield just under last years? Btw they were way low on last years prediction, and last years and this years crop is predicted above average. I have learned one thing in my years in trading commodities, "bet against wheat you will live in the street". It has nine lives.
 
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I don't trade commodities any longer. A number of years back I had a huge spread on wheat and a lot of beans naked. That year broke me of sucking eggs.

If I would have only taken the exact opposite position my broker recommended I would be a wealthy man today.
 
i'm hearing from crop adjusters that they aren't expecting any claims on dryland wheat. Might be some on irrigated though.

Apparently, the wheat stood back up after the snows melted.
 
PassItOn said:
i'm hearing from crop adjusters that they aren't expecting any claims on dryland wheat. Might be some on irrigated though.

Apparently, the wheat stood back up after the snows melted.
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I have been hearing the same thing since a few days after the snow went off. I am not sure why the irrigated would be any different than the dryland. Things often get blown out of proportion to reality a lot it seems. The long range forecast is for below normal temps, which could slow down the wheat maturing and delay harvest a bit, which would be good for the birds.

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/610day/

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/814day/index.php
 
The irrigated wheat would have been further along than dry land and therefore more suceptible to a frost/freeze event.

Generally most of the down wheat has stood back up. Overall the moisture probably added bushels to the crop, although, unless it's a total loss, freeze?frost damage oftentimes isn't evident until you put a combine in the field. If TX/OK harvest is any indication it's going to be another low protein year, which isn't good for farm revenue.
 
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What areas were hit by the hail and snows? Also , when the wheat is a loss , do the farmers just mow it down or bale it or what? Thanks for the updates!!
 
esetter said:
What areas were hit by the hail and snows? Also , when the wheat is a loss , do the farmers just mow it down or bale it or what? Thanks for the updates!!
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With the good moisture soil profile any wheat that is lost will most likely be sprayed and planted to milo. The wheat that was snowed on will all be harvested, most people are surprised how good it recovered. There is hail every year, this year isn't any different. The wheat zeroed out from hail will be scattered and localized and no more prevalent than other years.
 
Jonjhawk said:
What about all of the rain we've gotten? Has that caused any damage to the wheat?
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Yes the wheat is getting diseases especially wheat streak mosaic and stripe rust. The majority of the wheat is sprayed with fungicide to combat this. It won't cause the crop to be abandoned, but will hurt yields if not treated.
 
The crop world fascinates me. I think most of us fail to realize the science and skill it takes to put wheat in the ground and make it to the elevator. Or any crop for that matter. Usually failures here get turned into feed (silage) or baled or simply mowed down and try again next year.
 
esetter said:
The crop world fascinates me. I think most of us fail to realize the science and skill it takes to put wheat in the ground and make it to the elevator. Or any crop for that matter. Usually failures here get turned into feed (silage) or baled or simply mowed down and try again next year.
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Wheat streak mosaic is actually a virus. It is carried by the wheat curl mite, that live in volunteer wheat, then move from it into the fields of wheat. That's why they try and keep all the volunteer wheat under control. There isn't much you can do once it's infected. It can be really devastating especially if it's infected in the fall. Mild winters that favor the mite overwintering make wheat especially vulnerable. Stripe rust is a fungus that can really devastate yields, that is what you see the sprayers running in big wheat, or the air planes spraying for. There are other viruses such as barley yellow dwarf, and other funguses, but those are the big two.
 
Used to be lots of tobacco where I'm at , all sorts of fungus , worms , molds and mites we used to spray for. There are theories that certain pesticides / herbicides have caused quail egg shells to become thinner and more fragile.
 
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