The area is in the middle of autumn and just like summer the weather pattern isn’t “normal.” Many parts of Kansas experienced well-above normal rainfall and some sites have reported fifty inches with over two months left in the year. Much of Southwest Kansas has moved to abnormally dry with a portion now in moderate drought. This is after an extremely wet summer so what happened to the soil moisture? How is fall harvest progressing? Where is the 2017 wheat crop at? How different has this fall been so far?
- First, with an exception or two, temperatures have been above normal with some extremely high fall temperatures. Dodge City officially recorded a temperature of 101 degrees this past Monday which shattered the previous high temperature. The immediate area has experienced several days with highs in the 90s. Rainfall has been spotty but much of the area east of Barton County has received plentiful amounts. Strong winds have been a concern on more than a few days. While there was some spotty frost over the area recently, killing frosts are nowhere in sight and mid-October is the long-term average of that first hard freeze. The 30-day outlook is for the area to be warmer and drier than normal with the possibility of an early winter for the 60-day outlook.
- A cooler, wetter spring and summer delayed summer crop planting and development, primarily corn and milo. Corn and bean harvest are progressing nicely. Milo harvest has made good progress but some fields still have high moistures and/or green weeds. Hot weather and wind helps dry the grain but green weeds still present harvest difficulties and grain moisture problems. A good hard freeze would help greatly. Overall, fall harvest got off to a slow start but has picked up nicely. Yields for grain crops overall weren’t as good as hoped, especially dryland corn and weedy, aphid infested milo.
- Wheat conditions are all over the map. Planting was delayed for wheat following summer crops. Earlier planted wheat overall got off to a good start. At the start of planting most soils had adequate moisture but temperatures in the 80s and 90s, combined with strong winds, depleted soil moisture reserves and earlier planted wheat in the area exhibited strong growth. Some wheat, before temperatures cooled off, was exhibiting a blue-green cast indicative of moisture stress. This is partially due to the above normal temperatures and partially due to a lack of a well-developed root system. A good hard freeze would help greatly with problems such as Hessian fly and other insects.
- Overall, this fall has been significantly warmer than normal by several degrees which may not sound like much but is significant. Rainfall in the immediate area has been lower than normal. The forecast of above normal temperature and below normal precipitation without the chance of killing frost over at least the next week are not what the 2017 wheat crop needs.