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Harvest picking up speed
Published 6/27/2009 in Local News
By MONICA SPRINGER
The wheat harvest so far has been diverse across southwest Kansas. Spring storms that moved east of Syracuse to Deerfield earlier this month wreaked havoc on wheat fields, while fields north and east of Garden City are doing well, according to area grain elevator managers.
In Finney County, cutting is under way and yields range from 25 bushels an acre to 65 bushels an acre, said John McClelland, general manager of Garden City Co-op.
Test weights have been 59 to 64 pounds, he said, while an average test weight is 60 pounds.
"This harvest may not be a record for Garden City Co-op, but it could easily be second or third," McClelland said.
The timeline for wheat harvest in Finney County and in neighboring counties in southwest Kansas is somewhat behind compared to previous years because of humidity. McClelland said the wheat still is green and hasn't turned as fast as it usually does.
According to the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers, harvest in the state is 15 percent complete. The association states on its Web site that hot and windy conditions this week allowed farmers to get into their fields and harvest a large number of acres in a short amount of time.
The association also said yields are slightly higher than expected, with an average statewide yield of 40 bushels per acre.
McClelland said the wheat is in better condition the farther east and north you go.
But some western-most counties in Kansas saw spring storms move through and much of the wheat has been depleted.
In Hamilton County, custom cutters showed up last weekend and harvest has been in full swing since, said Dave Erwin, general manager of Syracuse Co-op Exchange.
The county has seen its share of challenges, Erwin said, including damage from disease and storms.
A hail storm tore a swath three to four miles wide and went for 50 miles, depleting much of the wheat east of Syracuse to Deerfield.
"I've never seen anything like it," Erwin said of the storm. "It did a lot of damage to southwest Kansas."
Test weights and yields on the surviving wheat vary because of the storm and some problems with disease the county's had, but Erwin said he's heard yields around 40 bushels per acre and yields that are "just not good."
Scott County is just getting started on its wheat harvest, said Gary Friesen, general manager of Scott Co-op Association. He said activity was just starting to pick up on Friday and predicted harvest would be in full swing today or Sunday.
It's still too early to say what the average yields are, but Friesen said there are fields that will see an average of more than 40 bushels per acre.
Moisture has been anywhere from 10.5 percent to 12 percent, Friesen said. He added that 11 percent is what the Co-op likes to see.
The harvest in the county is a little behind schedule, like other neighboring counties, because it's taken longer to get the fields ripe.
"We hoped to have been further along," Friesen said. "I hope we continue to have hot dry weather until we get the job finished up."
On the Web:
Kansas Association of Wheat Growers: http://www.kansaswheat.org
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