Farmers bring in bountiful wheat crop

Hot, dry conditions have caused challenges for other crops across the Midwest this summer, but many farmers raised a generally good wheat crop. USDA numbers show it was the largest soft red winter wheat crop in nine years.

John Howell farms in Monroe County, Illinois, near St. Louis, and serves as vice president of the Illinois Wheat Growers Association. He says it was a very good year for wheat in his area.

“Generally speaking, for myself and a lot of people that I know, really good wheat yields,” he says. “Some people had record yields. Quality and grain test weight were good as well.”

In this Mesonet Weather Report, Oklahoma state climatologist Gary McManus explains how drought conditions are expanding across the state, while new rain chances may offer some relief. Get the latest Oklahoma weather outlook, drought updat