Wheat farmers in Kansas, current hotspot for drought in U.S., are killing their crops and filing crop-insurance claims

Drought Monitor maps from the University of Nebraska are available here.

Wheat farmers in Kansas, the main source of U.S. grain for bread, are "abandoning their crops" because of "severe drought and damaging cold," reports Tom Polansek of Reuters. "They are intentionally spraying wheat fields with crop-killing chemicals and claiming insurance payouts more than normal, betting the grain is not worth harvesting. . . . Other growers are turning over dismal-looking fields to cattle for grazing."

The Department of Agriculture said May 12 that U.S. winter-wheat farmers were planning to abandon 33% of their planted acres, the most since World War I. The USDA estimate for Kansas abandonmemt was only 19%, "up from 10% last year and 4% in 2021," Reuters reports, "but farmers, grain traders and representatives of major food companies who traversed the state on an annual crop tour last week warn of an even greater percentage of unharvested acres. Crop conditions point toward an outcome similar to 1989, when farmers did not harvest 28% of the wheat they planted, said Justin Gilpin, chief executive of the Kansas Wheat Commission.

"Parts of Oklahoma are suffering too. In six northern counties, an estimated 65% to 70% of the crop will not be harvested, said Mike Schulte, executive director of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission. While farmers get some financial protection from insurance, local businesses are at risk when acres are abandoned, as fewer crews of harvesters come through the region, where they would normally spend money at diners and hotels, Schulte said."