The growing season and the subsequent harvest were certainly a roller coaster ride for the local winter wheat harvest.
Planted in dry conditions last fall, followed by a predominantly dry fall, winter and spring, the prospects for the 2021 crop did not look promising.
But then in mid-April there was wet snow that covered the region with moisture. It was followed by May when most areas received six to eight inches of rainfall.
Suddenly there was the potential for a bumper crop.
Then came some extremely hot days in June and the return of the drought.
The chances of a bumper harvest dwindled as the wheat heads did not fill properly under the stifling heat.
The result is a harvest that is somewhere between “catastrophe” and “bumper”.
“It’s not a bumper crop, but it’s a solid harvest,” said local agronomist Merlin VanDeraa. “… at least most people reap something.”
The harvest began in earnest on site on the weekend of July 4th and has continued unabated ever since. It will likely be mostly closed after this weekend, as long as the weather permits.
West Plains’ Wade Betschart said it seems that yields increase the further north you go from Yuma. The test weights are a bit low, averaging about 58 pounds per bushel, with 11 percent moisture and 10 percent protein.
“It’s not as bad as it could have been,” said Betschart. “All the humidity in May helped. It’s leaps and bounds better than last year. “
Rob Baar of Stratton Equity Co-op in Kirk said the location averages about £ 58 a bushel. However, some are as low as 50 pounds. Baar said his facility couldn’t take anything under £ 53 because they couldn’t market it, adding that there are other locations that can pick up this wheat.
“I was hoping that the harvest would get better,” he says, “but every day we get two to three loads too little.”
However, he found that despite the low test weights, the yields are still in the 40 to 50 bushels range. Some fields have fared worse, while there are some arid areas that produce much higher yields.
While most of the local crop is dry land, there are some irrigated winter wheat fields. Baar found that irrigation didn’t fare much better that year. VanDeraa agreed, stating that some irrigated fields had “flattened” and the sprinklers would need to be turned off.
VanDeraa said total yields are slightly above average considering the Yuma County’s average is 40 to 45 bushels per acre and that some fields produce up to 65 to 70 per acre.
The market has definitely cooperated as the price of wheat is well above $ 5.
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