Day 8, Kansas Wheat Harvest Reports

This is day 8 of the 2015 Kansas Wheat Harvest Reports, brought to you by the Kansas Wheat Commission, Kansas Association of Wheat Growers and the Kansas Grain and Feed Association.

Kansans across the state are hearing the annual rumblings of combines as they venture out into fields. Jeremy Millershaski from Lakin reported that their crew is now more than halfway done with harvest. Because of hail damage from storms in the last three to six weeks, test weights are “all across the board,” but still reaching up to 60 in the best patches.

Jeremy lamented that wheat that was hailed out is still making 20 to 30 bushels per acre, but would have made 45 to 50 bushels per acre without rain delays and storm damage. In fields that were spared, Jeremy reported patches yielding up to 70 bushels per acre.

“We actually had a chance to get close to our average,” Jeremy said. “But, we have not had even an average year in five or six years.”

Austin Taylor, a representative of Golden Valley, Inc. in Rozel, said that harvest in the area is nearing the home stretch with an estimated 80 percent of wheat harvested. Yields in the area have been highly varied with the outliers of 17 and 70 bushels per acre.

Test weights have been holding steady in the area at slightly over 60 pounds per bushel. While Taylor reports this is a slightly below average year, he said that it is much better than last year. Over the weekend the elevator surpassed last year’s receiving total with another week left to harvest. Proteins are averaging 13 percent.

Dean Oliver of the Midway Coop Association in Osborne reported that yields are averaging around 30 bushels an acre. The average test weight is 60.3 pounds per bushel and protein content is 13.2 percent.

Wheat north of Osborne is still a little too wet to cut now, but the combines are rolling south of town. Farmers are scrambling to get cut before the encroaching weed pressure causes issues.

“For a long time, I thought our farmers were going to be left high and dry,” said Oliver. “We had drought damage, winter kill and high stresses on the crop, but those rains in April and May perked the wheat back up.”

The 2015 Harvest Report is brought to you by the Kansas Wheat Commission, Kansas Association of Wheat Growers and Kansas Grain and Feed Association.

by Jordan Hildebrand