Kansas farmers have begun preparing their fields to plant winter wheat, amid concern that the long drought has left the ground too dry to get the 2012 crop off to a good start this fall.

But industry experts are expecting a rise in the number of wheat acres, because fields of failed corn and other spring-planted crops are now free for winter wheat planting. Farmers who didn’t harvest crops this fall are going to need cash from a wheat crop.

The key is whether Kansas gets rain in the next few weeks to germinate the wheat before winter settles in. Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service reports topsoil moisture short across 70 percent of the state.