Rainfall pushes Illinois wheat to record yields as drought leads to abandoned fields in the Heartland.
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By Tarso Veloso and Michael Hirtzer Lush fields in Illinois are proving to be a rare bright spot for the U.S. wheat crop after a severe drought forced growers in top producer Kansas to abandon fields at the fastest rate in more than a century. Abundant rainfall has pushed Illinois yields to the highest ever, according to a crop tour this week hosted by the Illinois Wheat Association. That’s in stark contrast to Kansas, where plants are so withered that some fields won’t even produce straw for hay, much less wheat that will be turned into flour to make bread. Farmers in both states boosted planting after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine disrupted global grain shipments and sent wheat futures to a record. While Kansas’ smaller-than-expected crop is keeping prices there high, bigger crops in the Ohio River Valley will provide needed supplies for millers and even livestock producers short of corn for feed. “The tour showed that we will have one of the best wheat crops we ever produced in ...
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