Idle today, local wheat harvest crews raced the weather Tuesday

Combine driver Joe Schumacher, son of Tim and Tammy Schumacher of rural Victoria, cuts wheat Sunday evening. (Photos by Tammy Schumacher)

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

Many combines are idled today in Ellis County following drenching rain and quick moving thunderstorms Tuesday night. Most of Ellis County reported more than two inches of rain.

Crews were racing against the weather yesterday, cutting as much wheat as possible and getting it to local grain elevators before the storms hit.

Although the precipitation was welcomed by farmers with fall crops, it comes too late for the 2018 wheat crop.

Knowing it’s been a dry season, the Tim Schumacher family, who farm southwest of Victoria about six miles, was pleasantly surprised with yields a little better than expected.

The Schumacher wheat crop yielded an average 35 bushels per acre, better than they anticipated in this drought.

“It’d averaged about 35 bushels an acre. With the lack of moisture, it’s pretty darn good,” reported Tim’s wife, Tammy Schumacher. “Because of the lack of rain and snow the past eight months or so, we weren’t sure what we’d be getting.”

“At least we aren’t scraping the dirt with the combine headers, which other farmers around are doing,” she said.

Brigg Schumacher, 2, son of Joe and Danielle Schumacher, plays in the wheat. Brigg is the youngest grandchild of Tim and Tammy Schumacher. Briggs’ picture was taken by his brother, 9-year-old Levi Schumacher.

The farm land has been in the Schumacher family for five generations. Their wheat harvest this year started Friday and finished up Monday evening.

This year they planted just 225 acres of wheat.

“It’s the least amount we’ve planted in years, due to the price of of wheat being so low,” Schumacher explained.

In addition to drought, northwest Kansas wheat farmers are dealing with freeze damage that hit in mid-November following unseasonably warm temperatures early in the growing season.

On Monday, the National Agricultural Statistic Service rated 28 percent of the wheat in Kansas in poor to very poor condition. About 44 percent was reported as fair, followed by 26 percent in good and 2 percent in excellent condition.