Area forecast
The National Weather Service forecast for the Golden Belt shows mostly sunny skies on Sunday, with highs mainly in the lower 80s, north-northwest wind between 5 and 8 mph becoming calm.
On Monday, there is a 20% chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1 p.m., increasing to a 30% after 1 a.m. Tuesday. Tuesday night shows a 20% chance of showers and thunderstorms, partly cloudy, with lows mainly in the lower 60s.
Wednesday brings a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms. It will be partly sunny, with highs mostly in the middle 80s. Thursday brings a 20% chance of rain, mostly sunny, with highs mainly in the middle 60s.
Friday’s forecast is sunny, with highs mainly in the middle 80s, and no rain predicted.
The short-term weather forecast is leaving Kansas wheat farmers saying, “rain, rain, stay away.” Moisture levels remain a key determining factor of when and where farmers are able to combine and, with storms in the forecast, farmers were cutting the fields they could Thursday, ahead of the arrival of the impending front.
Jacquelyne Leffler is the CEO of Leffler Prime Performance in Americus. She reported farmers in Lyon County in eastern Kansas have been battling higher moisture due to increased humidity but still are finding dry enough fields to cut. She noted a lot of green stems on ripe wheat as fungicide applications kept plants healthy and alive. But, even on fields where no fungicide was applied, grain moisture content has been slow to dry down, delaying combining. Producers in the area are eager to harvest their wheat, so wheat stubble can be double-cropped into soybeans.
Leffler reported yields ranging from zero to 60 bushels per acre as some wheat succumbed to too much moisture in the final weeks before harvest. Proteins are ranging from 9.5 to 12.5 percent.
Kylo Heller, who farms in Lincoln County in central Kansas, is seeing better wheat than he expected. He reported yields from the high 60s to low 70s with test weights ranging from 60 to 65 pounds per bushel. He applies nitrogen to help improve protein levels and shared that the local elevator is evaluating wheat loads in the area, ranging from 11 to 12 percent protein.
Heller said the area did see significant presence of stripe rust, but fungicide applications and selection of resistant varieties kept most of the damage at bay. He reported early signs of yellow spot and wheat streak mosaic virus, but nothing that put undue pressure on the wheat crop.
Tyler Ediger, who farms and produces seed wheat with his family in Meade County, also reported yields are above average, mostly due to timely rains received throughout the growing season. His protein is highly variable, ranging from 9.5 to 13 percent with test weights between 60 and 65 pounds per bushel. Ediger is halfway through harvest, depending on any rain delays.
The 2021 Harvest Report is brought to you by the Kansas Wheat Commission, Kansas Association of Wheat Growers and the Kansas Grain and Feed Association. To follow along with harvest updates on Twitter, use #wheatharvest21. Tag us at @kansaswheat on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to share your harvest story and photos.
