WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - A government report shows U.S. farmers are expected to harvest their smallest winter wheat crop in more than a decade amid an ongoing drought that has devastated fields across the nation's breadbasket and a global surplus of the grain that has depressed prices.
The National Agricultural Statistics Service on Thursday forecast the nation's 2018 wheat crop at 1.19 billion bushels. If realized, that would be down 6 percent from the previous year.
Marsha Boswell, spokeswoman for the industry group Kansas Wheat, says the last time the nation's farmers harvested such a small wheat crop was in 2002.
She says it's not a surprise that production is down because the market is not really telling people to plant wheat given the surplus of it in the world.
MOST VIEWED STORIES
Meriden teen injured in Jeff co wreck
Two arrested in rural Horton drug bust
USD 415 board approves resignations, new hires
Fake sports rings seized enroute to Atchison
Early Saturday house fire battled in Atchison
Topeka woman arrested in Jackson Co on drug charges
4th attorney appointed for TX man charged in fatal Jackson Co wreck
Hearing held on USD 115 land transfer petition
Failure to stop, Georgia warrants, hold Atchison man
8-year-old injured in mid-week Atchison wreck
New Mayor appointed for Lancaster
LV man sentenced for teen sexual attack
Lansing inmate dead, investigation continues
Motorcyclist injured in Winthrop, MO crash
K-9 bridge replacement underway in Nemaha County
Marysville man sentenced in wife's murder
LATEST STORIES
Area law enforcement to participate in special enforcement
Richardson County Commission approves expensed
Plans set for 2024 Hiawatha Farmers Market
Marysville man sentenced in wife's murder
Wamego man convicted of second fentanyl-related death
Electrical distribution project upgrades for Falls City
NPPD warns downed power lines can be deadly
MHMA Mock Trial Team wins state, heads to natls