Participants in the tour made individual estimates on the total size of the crop, which ranged from 198.4 million bushels to 355 million bushels. The weighted average was 297.1 million bushels.
Crop concerns noticed on this year's trip included dry conditions throughout most of the state, but especially in the more western regions. A lack of rainfall in the fall and in recent months attributed to the shorter stands and underdevelopment observed. On the first day of the trip there was a distinct difference in fields observed in the eastern half of the state and those observed further west.
The second day was a mixed bag depending on what route was taken. Many fields in the western and southwestern region of the state have been abandoned, with no sub-soil moisture to allow producers to tear up the field and plant an alternative crop. This year's crop is relatively disease free, with only small signs of some barley yellow dwarf and loose smut. Some hail damage was observed in the more east-central region of the state on the third day.
Crop scouts on the tour spent Tuesday, Wednesday and today surveying Kansas, usually the top U.S. wheat producing state, trying to assess the production potential of hard red winter wheat for this year. The third day of the tour showed more adequate moisture with higher producing yields than seen earlier in the week. The average yield for the third day was 47.3 bushels per acre, 8.3 bushels higher than the 2001 estimate of 39 bushels per acre on the third day.
Emphasis was placed on the fact that this is what the current crop looks like at this given point in time. Rain could be a major factor in the final outcome of the 2002 crop, enhancing production if moisture is seen in the next few days, or greatly lowering production if there is none. More detailed information from the tour can be found on the KCBT's website at http://www.kcbt.com.
