Test weight improving as wheat harvest progresses
By ROWENA PLETT
Staff reporter
Cloudless skies and hot temperatures have spurred wheat harvest in the area, and combines have been rolling well into the night for the past five or six days.
Mike Thomas, manager of Cooperative Grain and Supply at Marion, said the facility had taken in approximately 240,000 bushels as of Tuesday morning.
Thomas said the test weight was below average on most loads but the later wheat is getting better. Full weight is 60 pounds per bushel.
At the beginning of harvest this past Wednesday, many loads were testing at 51-52 pounds per bushel, but Monday 57-58 pound weights were common.
Yields are averaging 30-35 bushels per acre, Thomas said, with a few 40-45 yields. He said some isolated spots are very good and others are terrible.
He estimated harvest to be at the half-way point.
At the Agri-Producers, Inc., elevator at Tampa, manager Stan Utting said yields are coming in "all over the board," from 20-50 bushels per acre.
He said test weights generally are around 55-56 pounds per bushel. He estimated harvest to be 70 percent complete as of Tuesday morning.
Manager Perry Gutsch at the Lincolnville elevator said test weights have been low but are getting better. He said wheat coming from east of town seemed to have good test weight.
Most farmers were expecting average yields of from 30-35 bushels per acre, Gutsch said. A few fields were hit by hail and are doing poorly.
According to Gutsch, a couple of farmers have completed harvest, but some are just getting started, He thought harvest might be 50 percent complete.
In the field
Using a Gleaner harvester with a 27 1/2 foot header, young Ed Svitak and his grandfather Ed were combining wheat south of Pilsen Sunday. The field was covered with hail twice during spring storms, but there was no apparent damage.
Since they began harvest the previous Thursday, they had combined 350 out of 500 acres of wheat and were expecting to finish today (Wednesday).
Ed said test weights have averaged in the mid-50s, but "it's not busheling out too bad."
He surmised the low test weight was because the crop got too much water, which resulted in shriveled kernels.
The Svitaks store their wheat in their own bins. Ed guessed the crop would average 35 bushels per acre.
He is hoping that a short crop will bring a higher price. Currently, it is above three dollars per bushel as compared to $2.82 to $2.85 a year ago.
The Svitaks have a trucking business so are able to haul their wheat directly to Hutchinson at various times throughout the year, selling to Cargill or other grain companies, so they are able to get a better price than selling through the local elevator. The price at Hutchinson Sunday was $3.25.
Jon and Suzanne Thole were combining Monday two miles west of Marion. The combine's cab has two seats, so Suzanne is able to ride along. She does the trucking.
Jon said some fields had a poor test weight of from 52-54 pounds per bushel, but more were producing weights of 58-60 pounds. He expected the average yield to be 38-40 bushels per acre.
Jon recently bought a new 2388 Case IH combine and said the harvest was going well. He said they were about half done with the 500 acres of wheat and, barring any unforeseen circumstances, would be finished by Saturday.
He was anxious to get done because the fields are starting to show a lot of green growth of grass and weeds due to the wet spring.
Jon, who is 62, started farming with his dad, Sam Thole, in 1965. He has been farming on his own for 15 years, ever since his father died.
He feels pretty good about the price right now because it is trending upward. He said he has found out in the past that elevator storage costs can eat up much of the profit potential from holding onto it, so he is considering selling a large part of the crop soon.
