Posted on Jun 9, 2022
Western Kansas wheat crops are failing just when the world needs them most
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Russia's war in Ukraine has disrupted global food supplies, driving up demand and prices for wheat. But after months of drought, many western Kansas farmers won’t have a crop to sell.
LANE COUNTY, Kansas — This time of year, the wheat growing in this part of western Kansas should be thigh-high and lush green.
But as a months-long drought continues to parch the region, many fields tell a different story.
“There’s nothing out there. It’s dead,” farmer Vance Ehmke said, surveying a wheat field near his land in Lane County. “It’s just ankle-high straw.”
Across western Kansas, many fields planted with wheat months ago now look like barren wastelands. The gaping spaces between rows of brown, shriveled plants reveal hardened dirt that’s scarred with deep cracks from baking in the sun.
LANE COUNTY, Kansas — This time of year, the wheat growing in this part of western Kansas should be thigh-high and lush green.
But as a months-long drought continues to parch the region, many fields tell a different story.
“There’s nothing out there. It’s dead,” farmer Vance Ehmke said, surveying a wheat field near his land in Lane County. “It’s just ankle-high straw.”
Across western Kansas, many fields planted with wheat months ago now look like barren wastelands. The gaping spaces between rows of brown, shriveled plants reveal hardened dirt that’s scarred with deep cracks from baking in the sun.
Western Kansas wheat crops are failing just when the world needs them most
Posted from kcur.org
Farming
Agriculture
Food/Chow
Posted 2 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel good morning, thank you for the solid read/share of the most informational good buddy.
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Ernie Minton, dean of Kansas State University’s College of Agriculture, said the places most likely to be hurt by this shock to the food system are ones where millions of people already live on the edge of malnutrition.
“That is the really disturbing part,” Minton said. “The countries and the individuals that are impacted most are the ones that are least capable of shouldering that kind of shock.”
So how could the international community help? Building new grain storage infrastructure in Ukraine, Broyaka said, or investing in temporary plastic storage options — like the grain bags that K-State has been evaluating in parts of Africa — to increase Ukraine’s capacity in the short term.
Farming regions like Kansas could also help by exporting more grain. Roughly half of the wheat harvested in Kansas in a given year gets exported abroad, Minton said.
But increasing wheat production isn’t something that can happen overnight.
Here in Kansas, farmers planted their winter wheat last fall, months before Russia invaded Ukraine. So by the time global markets began feeling strained from the war, there wasn’t anything Kansas farmers could do to try to grow more, even if the rains would have allowed.
But, Minton said, that’s why K-State’s long-term research into developing new wheat varieties that can withstand future Kansas droughts is so vital.
“These are times when we really need to be cognizant of how fragile this global food issue is,” Minton said. “We all have to get involved and look for solutions, and there may not be easy ones in the short run.”
Furthermore, wheat is far from the only crop for which the world depends on both Ukraine and Kansas."...
..."Ernie Minton, dean of Kansas State University’s College of Agriculture, said the places most likely to be hurt by this shock to the food system are ones where millions of people already live on the edge of malnutrition.
“That is the really disturbing part,” Minton said. “The countries and the individuals that are impacted most are the ones that are least capable of shouldering that kind of shock.”
So how could the international community help? Building new grain storage infrastructure in Ukraine, Broyaka said, or investing in temporary plastic storage options — like the grain bags that K-State has been evaluating in parts of Africa — to increase Ukraine’s capacity in the short term.
Farming regions like Kansas could also help by exporting more grain. Roughly half of the wheat harvested in Kansas in a given year gets exported abroad, Minton said.
But increasing wheat production isn’t something that can happen overnight.
Here in Kansas, farmers planted their winter wheat last fall, months before Russia invaded Ukraine. So by the time global markets began feeling strained from the war, there wasn’t anything Kansas farmers could do to try to grow more, even if the rains would have allowed.
But, Minton said, that’s why K-State’s long-term research into developing new wheat varieties that can withstand future Kansas droughts is so vital.
“These are times when we really need to be cognizant of how fragile this global food issue is,” Minton said. “We all have to get involved and look for solutions, and there may not be easy ones in the short run.”
Furthermore, wheat is far from the only crop for which the world depends on both Ukraine and Kansas."...
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