Agricultural News
Winter Weather Slams Wheat Crop in Western Kansas and Oklahoma Panhandle- NAWG Says Stenghtens Case for Crop Insurance
Tue, 02 May 2017 03:17:37 CDT
Rain, snow and low temperatures swept across the central Plains this weekend in an extremely unseasonable cold snap, dumping up to a foot of snow, some reports say, on fields in Oklahoma's Panhandle, western Kansas and Colorado, causing significant damage to wheat crops in the vicinity. In our nation's capital, Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays caught up with Chandler Goule, CEO of the National Association of Wheat Growers, for his take on the situation and what impact it will have for wheat producers across the country and the agriculture community in Washington.
Goule told Hays that snow, hail and cold temperatures have savaged the wheat crop in Kansas- and that crop observers "are estimating that about 43% of the Kansas wheat crop is probably gone."
"This is a very unfortunate event for our growers," Goule said, "but what it does do is give us more and more reasons and evidence, and proof of why it's important to have a safety net there. How do you plan and mitigate for risk of this scale without having a Farm Bill and crop insurance?"
Crop insurance does present the biggest target for the chopping block as lawmakers begin negotiations for the 2018 Farm Bill. Goule has used the Association's resources to reach out to wheat growers affected by this untimely weather, with instructions to document the damage done and share it with those opposed to keeping the Farm Bill's safety net programs intact.
"We are having our growers out there taking pictures, doing videos," he said. "We are tweeting to the Heritage Foundation, 'This is why you're wrong on crop insurance.'"
This tragedy comes just ahead of the Kansas Wheat Tour, set to begin Tuesday of this week. It is too early to say at this point what the extent of the actual damage is. However, this tour will allow crop scouts the opportunity to examine crop conditions up close for a more accurate estimation of damages. Damage from cold conditions often take up to ten days to appear.
Click on the LISTEN BAR below to hear the full conversation between Hays and Goule as they discuss the damage to wheat crops from the recent winter storm, plus his thoughts on President Trump's first 100 days in office and the implications his trade policies have had on the agricultural economy.
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