July 2, 2009

Wheat harvest is coming to a close in some areas of Kansas but just getting started in others, according to growers' group Kansas Wheat.

 

Harvest is "just beginning" around the Decatur County Co-op in Oberlin, in northwest Kansas, the group said in a report. Grain started arriving at the elevator during the weekend, with more coming in Tuesday. Test weights so far have averaged 60 pounds per bushel to 63 pounds, but it's too early to estimate an average yield or protein, according to Kansas Wheat.

 

Harvest in north-central Kansas is more than half finished, with "better-than-expected yields" reported in the area, according to Kansas Wheat. Monday was a record day at the AgMark LLC terminal in Concordia, the report said. More than 610 trucks hauled in 512,800 bushels, the largest one-day total in the terminal's 10-year history, it said.

 

In Rooks County, in north-central Kansas, summer-fallow wheat is faring "pretty" well, said Jerry McReynolds, first vice president of the National Association of Wheat Growers. He said in the report that continuous and double-crop wheat was "average to poor."

 

Test weights have averaged 60 pounds to 63 pounds "for the most part," McReynolds said in the report. He expected to finish cutting by the end of the weekend, although frequent pop-up rain showers have hindered harvest progress, according to the report.

 

Around Linn, in northern Kansas, harvest is beginning to slow down, Kansas Wheat said. Test weights at United Farmers Coop have ranged from 60 pounds to 63 pounds. Yields in some fields top 70 bushels, but 50 bushels is closer to average, the report said.

 

Team Marketing Alliance, which owns four central Kansas cooperatives, said harvest should be about wrapped up around its locations by the end of the week. The locations averaged a protein value of 11 percent, but levels were variable, according to the report.

 

Overall, "production is right at the company's five-year average," Kansas Wheat said about TMA. "However, there was a great deal of variability."

 

In south-central Kansas, Randy Fritzemeier of Stafford had about 300 acres left to harvest, according to Kansas Wheat. Yields in and around Stafford are averaging in the 20-bushel range, with some negative impact seen from heavy rains and flooding, Fritzemeier said in the report. It will take several days for the remaining muddy fields to dry out, he said.

 

Kansas farmers planted wheat on 9.3 million acres this year and are expected to harvest 8.8 million, according to the US Department of Agriculture. Last year, wheat was planted on 9.6 million acres and 8.9 million were harvested.

 

Kansas Wheat is the cooperative agreement between the Kansas Wheat Commission and the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers. The group issues harvest reports throughout the cutting season.