Daily updates from Kansas Wheat show the 2023 wheat harvest is progressing as the second week of harvest kicks into gear.

According to Kansas Wheat’s reporting, the week of June 19-23 saw combines making progress across a wider swath of central and eastern Kansas. The USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service crop progress report for the week ending June 18 showed the state’s harvest at 8% complete.

Kansas Wheat reports that farmer sentiments were that the persistent drought conditions were the key to winter wheat conditions of 54% very poor to poor, 30% fair and 16% excellent. There were, however, selective, better-than-expected fields as harvest progressed, Kansas Wheat reports.

Cowley County

Harvest in the area started June 7, yet farmers have been starting and stopping harvest interrupted by rains, according to Kevin Kelly, general manager of Two Rivers Co-op in Arkansas City. Still, average protein is in the 14% range, marking good-quality wheat.

Kelly noted that test weights were starting to drop slightly, as farmers cut their best fields first as the rains slowed their progress. Still, the average is 59 to 60 pounds per bushel.

“Overall, harvest results are dependent upon when the crop was planted — earlier-planted wheat has not fared as well as later-planted fields,” Kansas Wheat reports. “While it was dry for a long period after the first of the year, the area did catch a few rains when the crop was filling, contributing to better-than-expected quality.” The 2023 harvest in the area is about 20% complete, and Kelly expects that the co-op will take in half of its five-year-average crop.

Barber County

Sarah Dodge, grain merchandiser with Farmers Coop Equity Co., Isabel and Medicine Lodge, reported to Kansas Wheat that moisture remains at 15% to 16%, which has delayed getting the crop out. The Medicine Lodge area has received close to an inch of precipitation from every storm system that’s come through from May to June, she reported. That’s brought a flush of weeds in the fields, and combined with spotty hail damage, is one more hurdle for farmers.

Wilson County

Nicole Small, Neodesha, reported that she and her family expect to cut just 800 of the 1,000 acres they planted to wheat this year. That wheat had been planted into sorghum stalks and partially grazed because they were short on forage.

The rains are welcome, but they bring challenges to the harvest. Whether it’s standing water in the fields, or green sucker heads, farmers are dealing with the fallout.

Sedgwick County

Farmers are about 20% to 25% complete, reported Shawn Talkington, Cheney. Harvest started with below-average yields, but test weights of 62 to 64 pounds per bushel. Rain has brought test weights down to 58 to 61 pounds per bushel, and farmers are fighting crabgrass, palmer amaranth and kochia that have popped up through the canopy.

Marion County

Paul Penner, Hillsboro, was cutting a wheat field that would normally average 55 to 65 bushels per acre — and it was cutting at just 15 bushels per acre this year, according to Kansas Wheat’s report. This was the result of a dry winter and early spring. He said he has some better fields, but still expects overall that his farm’s wheat yield will be about half of normal.

Penner reported he expects to be done with harvest in just one week, if weather holds.

Saline County

Gareth Pettijohn, who farms east of Salina, echoed that variability is the theme of the 2023 crop. He planted his wheat following soybeans, and reported that one fortunate part of the drought was minimal disease pressure.

“Pettijohn is seeing distinct differences between good ground in the river bottom where the wheat is up to the belly button; and rocky hilltops, where it may reach the middle of the shin,” reported Kansas Wheat. “Some of the poorer fields did not even put berries all the way up the head. His first two fields were making 36 bushels per acre to the low 40s, with a 60-pound test weight and 11.5% protein.”

The Kansas Wheat Commission, Kansas Association of Wheat Growers, Kansas Grain and Feed Association and the Kansas Cooperative Council sponsor the 2023 Harvest Reports. To read more, visit kswheat.com. To follow along with harvest updates on Twitter, use #wheatharvest23. Tag Kansas Wheat at @kansaswheat on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to share your harvest story and photos.

Source: Kansas Wheat