Rain in US Plains likely too late for some wheat

Forecasts for rain in the US Plains were providing fresh hope for many US winter wheat farmers whose new crop has been hard hit by drought, but some wheat is too damaged to benefit much, wheat experts said on Thursday.
"Rain would be very beneficial to our dryland crop in the northern part of the state," said Texas A&M University agronomist Travis Miller. "Rain could turn that crop around."
Miller was not so optimistic about the rest of the state, however. He said extended drought has left the crop in central and southern areas of Texas in such bad shape that even significant rain would not be sufficient to make a crop. He estimates that Texas will likely produce only about 50 million bushels this year, down from 96 million last year, even if March brings decent rainfall.
In Oklahoma, where farmers harvested 128 million bushels last summer, the situation also remains dire.
"Any rain is good, but we will obviously not see the production we had last year," said Oklahoma Wheat Commission executive director Mark Hodges.
There are some areas in Oklahoma where the crop is in fairly good shape, particularly around Enid, thanks to good winter snowfall.
But Hodges said the state crop generally is suffering. The south-western corner of the state is in particularly bad shape, with wheat fields relying on root systems stunted to only 2 to 2-1/2 inches in length, a far cry from the 12-24 inch root systems desired.
"Even if we got the soil profile filled back up, right now we don't have the root system to take advantage of it," said Hodges.
Dusti Fritz, chief executive of the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers, said growers in her state, which harvested 380 million bushels last year and is typically the top wheat-growing state, likewise were worried about the weather, though the drought has only recently crept into Kansas.
"The wheat has looked pretty good until the last couple of weeks," she said. "These warm temperatures and lack of moisture are starting to really impact the wheat. We're going to need some significant rain soon."
Forecasters were calling for light sprinkles over the near term with a potential turn to heavier rain within the next two weeks.
"Early next week we should see some lingering light to moderate precipitation and the middle to late part of next week there are additional chances for showers in the wheat belt," said Meteorlogix forecaster Joel Burgio. "And there is some chance it could get heavier.
"It's not etched in stone, but we're looking at a more favourable weather pattern for getting showers in the wheat belt," Burgio said.