Wheat harvest seven to 10 days off

    From the road, this year’s wheat crop looks about ready to cut. But upon closer inspection in the field, there’s still some green heads and heads with soft berries.
    That means this year’s harvest still remains anywhere from a week to 10 days off before things really gear up.
    Tom Luhrs, a local seed producer, said there’s a lot of varying maturity in fields due to last fall’s excessively dry conditions.
    Luhrs said some of the wheat planted in fields last fall didn’t come up until this spring. That accounts for the differing levels of maturity even within the same field.
    Based on that assessment, Luhrs said there won’t be a lot of harvest activity for a week to 10 days. He speculated it could still be two weeks for some fields.
    He said the irrigated fields look to be at least two weeks away from harvesting at this point.
    Scorching temperatures that peaked over 100°F for three straight days in the middle of June took away some of the top-end yield potential on the dryland crop.
    Luhrs said the heat will likely reduce test weights some which also results in an increase in protein content.
    Protein content could be a price factor down the road if the spring wheat crop in the northern plains and Canada is poor.
    Spring wheat typically has a higher protein content which is more desirable to the millers. If those yields are down, it could lead to millers seeking hard red winter wheat for protein content, creating a premium for high protein wheat.
    Cash price for wheat is about $2 per bushel higher this year than last. Cash price for wheat this year is in the $5.75 per bushel range right now.
    Luhrs said the number of white wheat acres in the Chase County area has remained stable this year. He’s anxious to see how some of the white wheat varieties yield this year.