By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

“Lots of frustration right now.”

That’s how Stacy Campbell, Ellis Co. Extension Agriculture Agent describes the area wheat harvest, as he admits it’s hard to complain about rain in a locale that perpetually needs more moisture.

However, the past few days of intermittent rain is slowing down harvest, which Campbell said local grain elevator managers estimated is about 50 percent complete.  Although cutting is temporarily halted, much of what’s been harvested is good–very good.

“We need a little bit of wind and some more sunshine,” Campbell said Wednesday morning, “and no more little showers.”

There were showers early Tuesday afternoon in Ellis County, ranging from just a trace to 0.35. Early Saturday evening a severe thunderstorm brought 0.70 to two inches across the county. The National Weather Service in Dodge City is forecasting rain through Saturday.

The wheat that’s been harvested so far “may have historically high yields,” according to Campbell. “This may go down in the record books this year.”

“Eighty-plus summer fallow wheat, there’s even some 90 and 100-bushel wheat.  Even continuous crop is doing 70.  Guys that planted wheat after corn last year are even doing 60 bushels,” Campbell said, although he recognized that’s not true for every Ellis County farmer. “Obviously, somebody out there had hail and with all this rain some of the wheat got tall and fell over. It’s not picture-perfect across the county, but really, really good yields.”

Unfortunately, as the law of supply-and-demand kicks in,  the price for wheat keeps going down.

“Yesterday in Hays (June 28) the wheat price finished at $3.09 a bushel,” Campbell reported.  “A few months back it wasn’t great, but it was still well over $4 a bushel and teetering around $5 during the winter. That’s what happens when you have great crops. That’s why farming is such a challenge.”