Winter Wheat Planting Begins

Kansas farmers have started planting their winter wheat crop at the same time the state’s corn harvest has barely begun.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service reported Monday that 5 percent of the state’s winter wheat has now been planted. That’s about the same as last year in mid-September and close to the 6 percent average.

But the Kansas corn harvest is getting an unusually late start because planting was delayed by wet spring weather.

The report says only 8 percent of the corn has been harvested, compared with about 50 percent at the same time last year.

In a normal year, at least 24 percent of the corn would have been cut by this late in the season.