2023 summer is turning out to be a “a hot and dry one”as the end of July temperatures crank up into the high 90s and into the low 100s. We thought it couldn’t get any worse than it did last year, but it seems to be proving to be that way. For the farmers and ranchers, it is a big concern with the dry conditions and lack of rains, along with these heat waves and windy conditions. They know the weather is having a significant negative impact on their crop yields. A report said nearly 2/3 of Kansas is in severe, extreme drought.
Wheat harvest was not good this year because of lack of moisture. The wheat fields were thin and insurance agents were called out. Some wheat fields had to be killed and were planted back to fall crops. Some fields were left to see how the yields would do but most had weeds growing in amongst the wheat and had to be sprayed causing a delay in the wheat harvesting. It was certainly not a bin busting wheat harvest this year.
Farmers turned to the prospects of having to plant mostly fall crops hoping and praying for rains to come but they came here and there. It left some with a measurable amount of rain and some lacking. The hope came when the first month of summer provided cooler temperatures and dew covering the ground in the mornings. The fall crops remained looking good in most areas around here and the farmer’s hopes remained strong.
Then this week arrived with weather reports saying hardly any moisture to come but there would be record-breaking high temperatures. Farmers with irrigation are running their pivots and maybe most of their crops can be saved. Dryland farmers are not so fortunate. Trips down the country roads are showing damage in the corn and soybean fields as the leaves are starting to turn pale brown. Soybean fields show damage on the terraces. Cattlemen are putting down and baling hay and grass where ever they can, knowing that maybe the feed crop will not yield what it has in the past. Pasture grasses are showing signs of drying and some ponds are getting to their lowest stage or even empty. Water is being regularly hauled to some of the pastures, as the stock tanks have to be kept full for the cattle.
Yet, for most of the farmers, having dry, hot summers are not unusual. They are expected but not accepted. Our ancestors faced the Dirty 30s when record high temperatures in Alton, Kansas, in Osborne County, reached 121 degrees on July 24, 1936. In Kansas City the high temperature reached 113 degrees on Aug. 14, 1936. Records show that 1936 remains the most extreme with high temperatures in modern North American history. That year, 5,000 people died from the heat, nationally.
What lies ahead is never known for sure. It’s hard being a farmer and rancher when the weather doesn’t cooperate. Hopefully better days are ahead.
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