My Crystal Ball Is Cloudy

There are dozens of sunrises and sunsets between now and Wheat Harvest 2015. Time will tell what kind of crop we'll harvest this coming June.

Last week, before the latest round of winter weather came through the area, some meteorologists predicted that a third of the nation's wheat belt would be affected by winterkill caused by sub-zero temperatures and wind chills.

Most of the Kansas crop was thought to avoid the damage. Winterkill was anticipated in eastern Nebraska, southwestern Iowa, northern and eastern Missouri, south central Illinois, southern Indiana and southern Ohio.

Adequate moisture this fall helped establish a good root system for our crop here in South Central Kansas.

We had snow cover on most of our wheat, which helps insulate it somewhat from the sub-zero temperatures.

The tip ends of the plant always show some damage from freeze burn, but as long as the main part of the plant has ample moisture below the surface, the wheat isn't damaged by the surface "burn."

The National Agriculture Statistics Service reports that 49 percent of Kansas wheat is now in good to excellent condition, with 42 percent fair and 9 percent in poor to very poor condition.

My personal crop adviser doesn't think our crop was hurt with the temperatures. He is, if you'll recall, one of the most optimistic people I know.

Two years ago, we had several episodes of freezing rain during April and figured the wheat crop was lost. Instead, Harvest 2013 was the best wheat we'd ever harvested. For our 2014 wheat crop, a dry fall, winter and spring negatively impacted our yields.

My crystal ball is a little cloudy right now. We'll see how things add up when the trucks cross the co-op scales next June.