AgricultureID

State · US-KS

Kansas

Kansas ranges from cold semi-arid steppe (BSk) in the west to humid subtropical and hot-summer continental (Cfa/Dfa) conditions in the east, with hot summers, cold winters, and westward-declining rainfall. The east–west moisture gradient separates row crops from dryland wheat and rangeland.

Major crop systems

  • Hard red winter wheat
  • Grain sorghum
  • Irrigated and rainfed maize and soybean

Major livestock systems

  • Beef cattle feedlot finishing
  • Cow–calf grazing on the Flint Hills and western rangeland

Agricultural land: Wheat and rangeland dominate the semi-arid west and the Flint Hills tallgrass prairie, while the wetter east and the irrigated southwest support row crops; a large share of the state overlies the High Plains (Ogallala) Aquifer. Irrigation: Irrigation is concentrated in the west and southwest, drawing on the declining High Plains (Ogallala) Aquifer; eastern and central cropping is largely rainfed.

Agroecological zones: BSk (Cold semi-arid (steppe)), Cfa (Humid subtropical), Dfa (Hot-summer humid continental)

Documented crops & livestock

Official institutions

  • Kansas Department of Agriculture — State department for agriculture, water, and animal health.
  • K-State Research and Extension (Kansas State University) — Land-grant research and extension for crops, livestock, and range management.
  • USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) — Official state-level crop, livestock, and Census of Agriculture statistics, published through its regional field office network.

Data coverage & limitations

Descriptive profile; subnational statistics for Kansas are published by USDA NASS and the Kansas Department of Agriculture and are not reproduced numerically here.

  • Boundaries and administrative classification follow the ISO 3166-2 subdivision system and USDA/state reporting units.
  • No subnational statistics are reproduced here; any official figures are dated, versioned, and periodically revised — read them with their year and source.
  • The state profile spans very different systems — dryland winter wheat and rangeland in the semi-arid west versus irrigated and rainfed row crops in the east — that averages obscure.

Soils documented by the official survey

The soil survey maps 412 named soil bodies in Kansas, with surface pH from 4.3 to 9.6 and organic matter from 0.2% to 69.0%. The twenty appearing in the most mapped units are shown; each figure is the survey’s representative value for that soil body, not a measurement.

Soil bodies mapped in Kansas, with representative surface properties from the official survey
Soil bodypHOrganic matter %Clay %DrainageMap units
HarneyMollisols6.71.3–224–31Well drained149in 32 survey areas
EramMollisols6.1–6.31.2–325–47Moderately well drained121in 21 survey areas
UlyMollisols6.6–7.61.5–222–24Well drained120in 28 survey areas
PendenMollisols7.9–8.10.75–2.620–31.5Well drained112in 23 survey areas
UlyssesMollisols7–7.81.5–2.218–31Well drained106in 26 survey areas
MartinMollisols6.1–6.42–3.733–45Moderately well drained97in 23 survey areas
RoxburyMollisols7.72.5–3.523Well drained97in 40 survey areas
BridgeportInceptisols to Mollisols (the survey records both)7–8.20.7–3.512–37Well drained84in 34 survey areas
CreteMollisols5.72.5–324–30Moderately well drained78in 22 survey areas
ShellabargerAlfisols to Mollisols (the survey records both)5.80.7–1.55–17Well drained78in 12 survey areas
BatesMollisols5.81.5–2.512–21Well drained74in 20 survey areas
EudoraMollisols6.6–71.2–27–15Well drained73in 12 survey areas
ArmoMollisols7.61–324–25Well drained68in 17 survey areas
ClimeMollisols7.5336–44Well drained66in 26 survey areas
WakeenMollisols8224–29Well drained66in 19 survey areas
SognMollisols7.3–7.52–431–36Somewhat excessively drained to Well drained65in 31 survey areas
PrattAlfisols6.5–6.60.6–0.755Well drained64in 21 survey areas
DennisMollisols5.60.7–2.519–30Somewhat poorly drained61in 20 survey areas
VinlandMollisols6.3–6.7315–36Moderately well drained to Well drained60in 15 survey areas
VerdigrisMollisols6.5323Well drained57in 26 survey areas

These values describe soil bodies a survey has mapped, not samples taken in a particular field. A measurement on one farm may differ from the representative value of the map unit containing it.

AgricultureID does not infer crop suitability from soil observations. That a crop is grown where a soil occurs is not evidence that the soil suits it, and no such link is published without a source that makes it. How these observations are recorded.

Climate and drought

Drought assessment, week of 2026-08-25

assessment

46.0% of Kansas’s land area was assessed as being in drought (D1 or worse) for the week of 2026-08-25 to 2026-08-31.

No category
30.2%
D0 · not drought
23.9%
D1
23.1%
D2
22.8%
D3
0.0%
D4
0.0%

D0 is abnormally dry and is counted separately: the Drought Monitor treats it as a precursor to drought and a category areas pass through while recovering.

The Drought Monitor is drawn each week by an author who weighs several indicators together with reports from local observers. It is an assessment of conditions, not an instrument reading, and each map applies to one week.

Climate normals, 1991–2020

normal

57 stations in Kansas publish a full-standard 1991–2020 normal. Each describes its own site; none is an average for the state.

StationMean tempPrecipitationDays ≤ 32°F
ABILENE, KS US57.5°F34.28 in105.6
ANTHONY, KS US57.4°F33.14 in100.5
ASHLAND, KS US56.9°F23.00 in138.0
ATWOOD, KS US51.9°F22.08 in167.6
BELOIT, KS US54.3°F29.08 in131.0
CHANUTE MARTIN JOHNSON AP, KS US58.0°F40.69 in101.6
CIMARRON, KS US55.2°F21.61 in139.9
COLBY 1SW, KS US51.8°F20.39 in163.6

Eight of 57 stations shown.

A climate normal is what 1991–2020 averaged to at that station. It is not what any year was and not what any year will be; a season that matches it is ordinary, not forecast.

How these figures are produced, and what they do not say

Sources

This article draws on the following authoritative sources. See our sources & methodology for how they are selected.

  1. [1]USDA NASS — National Agricultural Statistics Service (opens in a new tab)

    USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS)

    Authoritative

    Cited for: Official state agricultural statistics

    Type:
    Government agency
    Jurisdiction:
    United States
    Accessed:
    2026-07-12
  2. [2]USDA — U.S. Department of Agriculture (opens in a new tab)

    United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)

    Authoritative

    Cited for: Federal agricultural context

    Type:
    Government agency
    Jurisdiction:
    United States
    Accessed:
    2026-07-12