Harvest prospects dampened
Staff writer
Heavy rains have forced county farmers to slow operations during what was meant to be a prime harvesting week.
“We had been combining the last couple of days, but now we’re at a standstill because of the rain,” Alan Hett said. “You drive a combine out there now, it would sink pretty good.”
Hett began harvesting his wheat Saturday afternoon. At the time, some of it already showed signs of too much rain, he said.
“It would be nice if we could get it going in the next couple days, but I don’t know if it’s going to happen or not,” he said.
County extension agent Rickey Roberts saw farmers harvested for a few days over the weekend before rain returned.
“It’s slowing things way down,” he said. “It’s becoming a late harvest.”
He estimated that the harvest was 30% done but admitted he was “throwing a dart against a wall.”
An average harvest takes about a week in “good cutting weather,” he said.
At Cooperative Grain and Supply in Marion, four trucks came in Tuesday. All of it had been cut over the weekend, elevator operator Dainne Cyr said.
“It’s too wet for them to get in the fields right now,” Cyr said. “It’s probably going to be at least tomorrow. I would guess it’s probably not even going to happen tomorrow. And then it’s going to rain later in the week.”
At Cooperative Grain’s Hillsboro location, it was the same story: No one had harvested Tuesday, though a few farmers had brought in loads they’d cut the previous morning.
“If it keeps raining like they say it’s going to rain this week, harvest probably won’t be done until the second week of July,” elevator operator Jacob Funk said
More than delaying harvest, heavy rain can cause mature wheat to bleach and shrivel up, lowering the weight of the grain.
“It’s going to affect the quality of the wheat,” Hett said. “The test weight has already been affected. Some of it has been pretty light.”
Lower weight means lower prices received by farmers.
“They’re going to start getting more aggravated the more rain comes,” Funk said. “Their crops aren’t going to be as good.”
Rain also can cause mature wheat to “lay down,” which can cause harvesting issues.
“We never want to complain about rain,” Roberts said. “That’s a dangerous thing to do, because we have to have rain to grow everything.… At the same time, we’re pretty anxious to get back in the fields.”
Hett was stoic about the rain.
“Not much I can do about it… I don’t have a big enough tarp to put over everything,” he joked.