Kansas farmers pulled by weather extremes and growing costs, wheat crop could be worst since 1972
Associated Press
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Farmer Orville Williams sifts powder dry soil as he checks the moisture in a drought-stressed wheat field Saturday, May 16, 2026, on his farm near Montezuma, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Drought-stressed wheat plants stand in a field near Macksville, Kan., Saturday, May 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Farmer Vance Ehmke checks soil moisture in a wheat field decimated by wheat streak mosaic virus Friday, May 15, 2026, on his farm near Healy, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Farmer Vance Ehmke looks at wheat damaged by a late freeze in one of his fields Friday, May 15, 2026, near Healy, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Farmer Vance Ehmke checks a wheat field decimated by wheat streak mosaic virus Friday, May 15, 2026, on his farm near Healy, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Drought-stressed wheat is silhouetted against the setting sun Friday, May 15, 2026, in a field near Cimarron, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Storm clouds build in the distance beyond a drought-stressed wheat field Friday, May 15, 2026, near Cimarron, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Farmer Orville Williams looks at drought-stressed wheat in one of his fields Saturday, May 16, 2026, near Montezuma, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Farmer Orville Williams looks at drought-stressed wheat in one of his fields Saturday, May 16, 2026, near Montezuma, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Drought-stressed wheat plants stand adjacent to parched ground in a field near Macksville, Kan., Saturday, May 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Cattle graze in a field of abandoned wheat Friday, May 15, 2026, near Cimarron, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)A drought-stressed stalk of wheat lies on a parched field Saturday, May 16, 2026, near Macksville, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Wheat plants struggle to survive in a drought-stressed field near Macksville, Kan., Saturday, May 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Farmer Vance Ehmke checks a wheat field decimated by wheat streak mosaic virus Friday, May 15, 2026, on his farm near Healy, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
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Farmer Orville Williams sifts powder dry soil as he checks the moisture in a drought-stressed wheat field Saturday, May 16, 2026, on his farm near Montezuma, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)