North Dakota Farmers Hoping to Salvage Crops

Wheat farmers in western North Dakota are seeing the impact of the drought

NORTH DAKOTA — There’re acres of dry dirt where wheat should be growing.

Now, farmers in North Dakota just hope to save a portion of their crop.

Wheat farmers in western North Dakota are seeing the impact of the drought.

One farmer in Belfield said his production is just one-third of what it usually is.

North Dakota wheat farmer Ed Kessel says in a normal year he yields 40 to 60 bushels of wheat.

This year is looking more like 10 to 20.

“No moisture you get these small fine kernels,” said Kessel. “That is going to take away from you test weight. Takes away from your yield. You can manage for a drought. You can do certain practices and things like that, but you need rain.”

Kessel said he won’t bale his wheat and will rely on crop insurance instead.

He also said he usually will harvest his wheat in August, but this year he started in July due to quality concerns.