Failed Wheat Acres... Now What?

Across the high plains and the wheat belt of our country, millions of acres continue to be locked in a brutal drought. Add to that a hard, open winter in many areas and the result is widespread winter/drought kill of wheat and triticale fields. We have seen more acres lost this year than any in recent memory. On top of this, hay and forage supplies are at the lowest levels in years - which translates to some of the highest feed prices in years. This is a lot of discouraging and depressing news, but the resiliency of the American farmer and rancher is strong and alive and there are next steps that can and should be taken to prepare for the future. Keith Berns, Jimmy Emmons and Scott Ravenkamp discuss what options producers have and the decisions they will need to make in the upcoming weeks to be best prepared for whatever comes next.
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[@mojavebohemian814]

Thank you very much.

[@mojavebohemian814]

I appreciate the banner!

[@martinhiemstra5067]

Is there much subsoil moisture at all in the drought stricken areas? Would any mixes including prairie grasses survive this utilizing deep subsoil moisture?

[@keithberns910]

Very little if any - varies a bit from area to area. Perennials are a really good answer for many areas - but they will need some favorable conditions to get started... The prolonged drought is even leading to the failure of some perennial fields

[@martinhiemstra5067]

I live in Ontario Canada were lucky we have our more moderate climate. I was a farmer at one time and an ag student. I own a book about the Dust Bowl. Who knows what might happen. There can't be any worse feeling than watching everything dry up and start to watch it blow away. The gentleman in the video who mentioned the 6 foot sand drifts in his area reminds of the pictures in that book. Scary stuff. Best of luck to everybody.🤞

[@martinhiemstra5067]

Young Red Angus is a good example. Dont know how he's doing now on his dryland acres.

[@OligosFew]

The American farmer needs to respond in real time as much as possible to changing climate needs. Subsidized crops don't help in this. By the time folks realize the need to diversify crops or utilize dry land farming techniques in otherwise wet areas famine will be brutal. For instance in anticipation you would think farmers would proactively switch acres to millet and cowpeas but they won't.

[@dalehair2400]

Audio is awful, cannot listen to this.

[@keithberns910]

Jimmy's audio is muffled for the first 1/4 of the video - we got it fixed and the rest of the webinar is pretty good. Sorry for the technical difficulties for the first part