Wheat is falling out of favor in Kansas, reports Farm Futures.
Wheat acreage may be reduced by as much as five percent this fall. That means, in the autumn of 2016, Kansas will record its fewest wheat acres in more than 100 years. Most of the decline can be attributed to low prices and a late soybean harvest. Wheat hasn’t been as profitable as other crops lately, and current prices show that trend continuing.
In Garden City last week, corn was bringing in $2.98 a bushel, compared with wheat’s $2.75. As a result, many High Plains farmers are shifting traditional wheat acreage to dryland corn. Soybean is less of an option that it would normally be, as the soybean harvest has been slowed by rain this fall. Twenty years ago corn couldn’t be planted in western Kansas. Genetics has changed that.
