A farmer finishes up harvest of a wheat field northwest of Ark City near Creekstone Farms Premium Beef on June 18. (Photo by Brady Bauman)
Wheat harvest is wrapping up across south central Kansas and farmers in Cowley County have been happy with the results, according to the county K-State Research and Extension office Tuesday morning.
“I’m hearing great things from our local producers,” K-State Research and Extension Ag and Natural Resources Agent Kelsey Nordyke said Tuesday morning during an on-air interview with KSOK. “The eastern half of the county is probably about seven days behind the western half of the county.”
Nordyke said nearly everything has south of U.S. 160 has been cut.
“Test weights have been phenomenal,” she added. “I heard 63-plus and yields have been really great, too.”
Lee Wingert, the manager of the Hackney Valley Co-op branch, told KSOK-NewsCow Tuesday afternoon that yields have ranged anywhere from 50 to 80 bushels per acre.
“That’s good wheat,” he said, noting the higher yields.
He said the lowest his branch has seen has been in the 30s.
Overall, he said his branch has seen 250,000 bushels come in the co-op for this year’s harvest — 50,000 more bushels than a year ago.
Nordyke also discussed how Cowley County 4-Hers will still be able to show animals and projects despite the cancellation of the 2020 Cowley County Fair.
Nordyke’s full interview from Tuesday’s Get Up & Go Show can be heard below:
She said several of those activities will go on as planned — though in very adjusted fashion.
“We still have exhibit opportunities for those kids,” she said. “It looks extremely different this year, so we’re really asking our families and public for grace in that as we navigate that change.”
She said the schedule for those events will take place during the regularly scheduled fair week July 29 through Aug. 2, and that the extension office will explore ways to use technology — such as online streaming and other methods — to highlight the work of 4-Hers.
