The wheat dust has settled and the grain elevators are full with one of the best wheat harvests the area has seen in recent years.
Each of the six elevators in the Farmers Co-op Equity Company could all break records for the most bushels harvested, said Charlie Swayze, general manager.
“There were some really good yields, some exceptional yields,” Swayze said.
Quite a few farmers had better than average yields ranging from 60 bushels per acre to as high as 80 bushels per acre dry land. It was much better than average when you take all the producers in the Equity area. Isabel, Nashville, Zenda, Lake City, Medicine Lodge have just a couple of farmers finishing up while farmers between Isabel and Sawyer have several acres yet to finish.
The wheat crop was so good that storage space might be tight for soybeans and milo. High prices prompted farmers to put in more of both crops than usual and with the big wheat harvest it is a concern, Swayze said.
But it’s a good problem to have. Wheat quality was good and a couple of varieties, Post Rock and Santa Fe, did well in this area.
A few farmers did have some rust problems that cut yields to 35 bushel per acre but most had a much better than average harvest.
About 90 percent of the wheat is cut in the Sawyer area. It took longer for the ground to dry out and the wheat was just a bit green when the rest of the county got started so they have a little more work to finish the harvest, said Rex Robinson, location manager for the Sawyer Farmers Co-op Equity.
Sawyer has just added more elevator space and they needed it.
“The new facility helped us get through the big rush. Without it we would have been in trouble,” Robinson said.
They had no problems during harvest except for a two-hour loss of power when a farmer snagged a guy wire on a power line that caused a short in the line. Other than that the facility took in wheat with average test weights of above 60 pounds up to 63 pounds.
“The quality was great. It was above average,” Robinson said.
With over 900,000 bushel in the bins it is the second biggest harvest on record and could be the biggest once the last fields are harvested.
The same story was true for the Kanza Co-op elevators. With over 5 million bushel in the silos it has surpassed early expectations and is much better than average, said Jim Bob Lewton, Kanza Co-op grain merchandiser.
The wheat was excellent. It was dry and had good weight. The crop was very good especially after two disappointing years.
The Kanza Co-op harvest will wrap up in just a couple of days, weather permitting. The elevator is moving wheat out in anticipation of a big corn harvest.
Overall for the county it was a good harvest, said Pratt County Extension Agent Mark Ploger,
“I think everyone is pretty well satisfied with harvest,” Ploger said. “Yields were good. A lot were above the county average. Test weights were good all the way through.”
About the only problem were a couple of annoying rains that slowed harvest. Each time it rains it deteriorates the quality just a little. When the wheat is ripe, farmers need to get it out of the field, Ploger said.
Pratt, Kan. —
