AccuWeather.com

David Drake directs a truck driver while loading wheat at the O.K. Coop elevator in Hardtner, Kan., Saturday, June 12, 2010, The elevator is trucking wheat to larger storage in Wichita and Enid, Okla., to make room for this years crop. A government forecast estimates that the 2010 Kansas harvest will be almost 353 million bushels. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

Wheat

Heavy thunderstorms in northern Oklahoma and southern Kansas late Sunday into Monday have disrupted the winter wheat harvest.

Winds of 50 mph, hail and rainfall of 2-3 inches inundated the region over the weekend.

Remnants of severe weather will continue in the central Plains through midweek, when storms will shift south into Texas. Weather should settle by midweek, and favorable harvest conditions from late week into early next week will sustain.

A wet wheat crop is almost impossible to harvest fully, and very expensive at that. Wheat becomes top heavy when rained upon and is much more prone to being knocked over by winds caused by severe weather.

If fallen wheat is laying too low to the ground, it is very difficult to harvest. Much of the crop is wasted as the harvesting blade is unable to pick up the fallen crop. Wet wheat can grow mold and is much more expensive to dry and store.

Wheat is sown and harvested beginning in the central Plains with the winter crop, then the sowing moves north to Canada. Any late sowing is being impacted by above-normal rain in Canada.

Canada will continue to have rainy weather, although rainfall will move from above average to near normal in the coming weeks. The canola crop is the latest to be affected, as plantings are currently falling behind.

Soybeans and Corn

Warmer-than-normal weather and evenly spaced rains have allowed soybean and corn crops to be planted on or ahead of schedule this growing season.

"Adequate moisture with no long dry periods, accompanied by a dry and warm April, allowed planting to be finished on time," said AccuWeather.com agricultural meteorologist Dale Mohler.

In June 2009, Kentucky and Illinois had 55 percent of soybeans planted, and as of this month, more than 84 percent of the crop has been planted.

"Soybeans are right on schedule this year in comparison to last," said Mohler.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), corn emergence is around 94 percent nationally, which is about 9 percent above last year's planting rate.

Story by Carly Porter, AccuWeather.com Staff Writer.