Wichita ? An unseasonable freeze has hit much of the Kansas wheat crop at its most vulnerable flowering stage, but it may be days before the full extent of the damage is apparent.

“The conventional wisdom out here is there is some damage, and maybe major damage, to mostly the better wheat, because it was farther along,” said Brewster farmer Ray Crumbaker.

Crumbaker already had abandoned half of his wheat crop because of unrelenting drought in northwest Kansas. He has noticed some freeze damage in his crop, but perhaps not as pronounced as other areas.

“The tragedy in this situation is that before we were dealing with drought; the poorer wheat has most likely been abandoned,” Crumbaker said. “And now this freeze hits … the better wheat.”

Freezing temperatures dipped as low as 26 degrees Thursday and Friday in parts of western Kansas. Days later, Crumbaker noticed color differences in wheat in low-lying areas more prone to freezing.

It will be another 10 days to two weeks before farmers will know the extent of the freeze damage, he said.

On Monday, Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service released its weekly crop condition report showing 35 percent of the wheat in poor to very poor condition. The report noted damage from earlier freezes this month.

Another 30 percent of the wheat was listed as fair, with 35 percent in good to excellent condition.

State climatologist Mary Knapp said freezing temperatures last week included lows of 32 degrees in Hays, Dodge City and Garden City, 27 degrees in Goodland and Colby, 29 degrees in Tribune. Automated stations in Grant County recorded 30 degrees and 31 degrees in Wichita County, among other low temperatures.

“When you have dry conditions, such as we are seeing in western Kansas, the likelihood of these late freezes increase,” Knapp said.

That is because temperatures drop more quickly when cold fronts hit drier air masses, she said.

About 90 percent of the Kansas wheat crop has now headed, according to KASS. In more normal years, only 76 percent of the crop would be that far along this early in the season.