Kansas farmers are harvesting a smaller winter wheat crop amid an ongoing drought, but the size of the crop is offset some by higher-quality wheat and rising prices.
The government forecast U.S. winter wheat production at nearly 1.2 billion bushels, down 6 percent from last year. Kansas is the nations leading wheat producer with a forecast of 270 million bushels, down 19 percent compared to a year ago. Kansas is expected to harvest 7.3 million acres of wheat.
The hot, dry weather led Aaron Harries, director of marketing for the industry group Kansas Wheat, to expect the harvest to be near the halfway point this weekend.
