Finally Underway - Wait for harvest should be worth it, high yields predicted

This year’s grain harvest may be the latest in recent memory due to a long, wet spring that has caused minor headaches for area producers.

In May, the USDA issued a stripe rust update and now some farmers are discovering foot rot as they rumble into fields for harvest – all of which reduce yields.

John Anderson, manager of Ritzville Warehouse Company, said harvest started on July 22 in the Sandhills for the grain company.

As of Monday, he said that less than 10 percent of the crop has been cut, with most producers west and south of Ritzville in the field.

With favorable weather continuing, Anderson expects farmers from way out west and progressing east and north to open their fields throughout the next few weeks.

He added that that fields north of Ritzville are traditionally later to start, with Sprague and Eden expected to start the first of next week.

“If the weather stays just like this we’ll be overall finished in two weeks and some will not have even started by then, like Edwall, and the ones out west should be just finishing,” Anderson said.

Despite the late start, it appears the wait was worth it with yields expected to be higher than average.

“It looks to me it could be the best we’ve seen in a while,” Anderson added.

Fred Kulm and his son, Matt, were busy cutting wheat on Saturday where Kulm Road and Franz Road meet.

Kulm had started harvest on Monday, July 25, but was forced to stop when a thunderstorm rolled by.

His crew returned to the field the next day and have been working steady, cutting soft white club wheat. He planted Moro in the field he was harvesting on Saturday.

“We have strong fields. There’s a lot of downed wheat but we’re probably getting 55 bushes to the acre from a field that averages 35 to 40 bushels,” Kulm said.

Randy Roth, with Union Elevator and Warehouse Company in Lind, agrees.

“This should be a well-above average crop,” he said. “We are receiving grain at all stations now, as harvest, the latest we have on record, is starting everywhere about the same time.”

As of early Tuesday morning, Roth said harvest is only about 15 percent done, a significant amount less than normal.

“Our historical average by this time is 60 percent,” Roth said. “Just a few fields have been finished so early yield reports are somewhat subject, but they have been in the 50 bushel plus, with some early estimates considerably higher.”

Before the rain on July 25, Union Elevator and Warehouse Company had four producers cutting at Schrag and one at Othello.

At that time, Roth said, “It’s the latest harvest that we know of, as on the average we have over 50 percent of the crop in before the end of July and we’ll be lucky to have 10 percent this year.”

Kelly Olson, while off-loading wheat at the Fletcher Elevator just off Highway 261, said his yields look good.

Olson said the high mositure in the area where his wheat fields are located resulted in a significant amount of Foot Rot.

Despite the unexpected problem, Olson said his fields were producing about 10 bushels per acre above average.

Senator Mark Schoesler opened his irrigated canola field that overlooks the City of Ritzville on Saturday afternoon.

Schoesler said he was hoping for 3,000 pounds from the circle he was working. That, he said, would a be a record for the field. He was hauling the canola to Odessa Union in Odessa.