Unit III wheat Text 1. Crop Development.

Progress of the 2006 wheat crop followed an unusual pattern. Planting and emergence were close to the pace of recent years, but pulled ahead in the last two weeks of October. Jointing began at the average time in late March, but soon began to pull ahead of the average pace, much like last year. Most of the wheat crop was jointed by late April, significantly earlier than the 5-year average. Heading was particularly early, after a warm spell in April. Nearly three quarters of the wheat crop had headed by the first week in May, 40% more than in previous years. The early development of the crop continued through maturation and harvest. Harvest was essentially complete by the July 4 holiday.

The condition of the 2006 wheat crop reflected constantly changing soil moisture availability and temperatures. The first reports in late October indicated that roughly 70% of the crop was rated as either good or excellent. Steadily decreasing soil moisture over the winter months was reflected in a similar decline in crop condition until late March, when only about a quarter of the crop was rated as good or excellent. Late-March precipitation led to a short-term improvement in crop condition, but hot, dry weather followed by freezing temperatures in mid to late April caused further deterioration in crop condition. Crop condition continued to decline until early June, when only 16% of the wheat acres were rated as good or excellent, and 53% were rated as poor to very poor, leaving 31% in the fair category. Crop condition rebounded somewhat with June precipitation, but the effect of these late-season rains on final yield varied greatly.

Text 2. Weather.

The 2005-06 wheat season was characterized by uneven conditions, both in temperature and precipitation. While some locations saw a wet start to the season, with precipitation more than three inches above normal, other locations saw an extremely dry start to the winter. Overall, the winter was mild and dry, with many locations having the driest December-to-February period on record. March saw a brief respite for the hardest hit regions, with a timely snowfall in southwestern Kansas. The moisture did not continue, and the western third of the state averaged less than 40% of normal April rainfall. Injury from the moisture deficit was compounded by a freeze on April 26 and 27, when low temperatures dropped as low as 26 �F, and stayed below freezing for several hours.

The uneven rainfall pattern continued through May and June. Some locations received sufficient quantities, while locations only a few miles away were much below normal. This contributed to the uneven yields within counties and across the state. Major hail storms on March 12, March 30, April 15, April 23, and May 7 also contributed to yield reductions in a few locations.

The continued warmer-than-normal conditions and generally dry weather allowed harvest to progress much more rapidly than normal. More than 90% of the harvest was completed by the 1st of July.