Kansas Wheat Farmers Playing Beat the Clock in Week 4 of Harvest

Mother Nature gives, and she takes. This is something Kansas farmers know all too well to be true. And the 2023 wheat harvest is no exception.

As farmers entered Week 4 of the Kansas wheat harvest, June 29 through July 7, Mother Nature was in a mood to finally turn on the hot and dry weather. But only for a moment. And then it was back to rainfall events, dropping 1 inch or more in spots in the southwest and southern parts of Kansas. The Kansas Mesonet reports its Garden City, Kan., station has recorded 4.66 inches of rain over the past 30 days — which has gone a long way towards temporarily easing drought concerns.

The U.S. Drought Monitor map for July 6 shows the western third of Kansas to be in the D0 to D3 drought categories — abnormal to extreme drought. That’s a much-welcome change from the D4 exceptional drought status that’s plagued that part of the state for a year or more.

According to the Kansas Wheat Harvest report for June 29, the harvest was moving into western Kansas, which saw more abandoned acres from the drought. According to reports from the area, those wheat acres that were able to be cut were coming in below average, but just slightly better than expected. Farmers were contending with rain as well as harvest complications from late-growing weeds in their sparse wheat fields.

Washington County

Neil Bekemeyer harvests wheat in Washington County, Kan., and across the border into Nebraska. He only started harvest June 26, and while a hailstorm June 28 didn’t break his hollow-stem wheat, it did shatter some. He also reports to Kansas Wheat a moderate amount of weeds below the canopy. But he did say he was surprised at the yields from his AgriPro Bigfoot and LCS Valiant varieties, which were showing test weights of 58 and 60 pounds per bushel.

Riley County

Kansas Wheat Commissioner Nathan Larson reports delivering his Syngenta Monument wheat crop to the local elevator in Leonardville, Kan., and seeing test weights of an average 58 pounds per bushel. Overall, his crop is averaging just 30 bushels per acre this year, due to reduced tillers and more weed pressure.

“It’s a disappointing year; but when you think about southwest Kansas, it’s not a bad year,” he told Kansas Wheat.

Source: farmprogress.com

Photo Credit: gettyimages-ianchrisgraham