It’s so dry in Kansas that wheat plants are turning blue.
At this time of year, crops are typically a verdant green and reach about knee height. Instead, prolonged drought means that many plants are just barely shin-high, their growth stunted by a lack of moisture. Some are yellowing, and others have the tell-tale blueish hue that plagues damaged fields.
Crop scouts set out this week to analyze yield prospects in Oklahoma, Nebraska and Kansas, the biggest US grower. What they found underscores why the government is predicting that farmers across the nation will likely abandon their wheat crops at the highest rates since 1917. The signs of drought are everywhere, and many plants are too scrawny and damaged to be worth reaping.
