Kansas wheat harvest in 2023 expected to be historically small due to two-year drought
By Morgan Mobley
5 June 2023
(KCTV) – Kansas has been called the country’s breadbasket. Now, wheat farmers in the state will reap their smallest harvest in more than 60 years.
This will go directly down the chain, from farmers to consumers at the grocery store.
Kansas flour mills will likely have to buy wheat grown in eastern Europe.
For decades, Kansas has led the nation in wheat production. The U.S. leads the world in in wheat exports, as well.
For the last two years, a drought has withered a lot of the crop.
Now, this year’s wheat harvest in Kansas is shaping up to be the smallest since 1957. That year, the Eisenhower administration intentionally suppressed wheat production.
Last year, Kansas produced 244 million bushels of hard red winter wheat.
“This year, they’re projecting the yield to be 30 bushels an acre on average,” said Hayden Guetterman, a farmer. “That kind of estimates out to 178 million bushels a week. That’s down substantially from what we normally produce. It will have an affect.”
In typical farmer fashion, they remain calm and optimistic as they go into harvest. They say they will gather what they can and hope for a better year to come.
“That’s just part of the industry; we’re faced with what Mother Nature gives us,” Guetterman said. “That’s just part of the way of life. There will always be another year.”
