Riley County crops are looking promising this summer.
“I think we’re in really good shape,” Riley County Agriculture Extension Agent Greg McClure told county commissioners Monday morning. “Now we’re begging for rain again. So, interesting. We get too much and farmers are never satisfied. I’ve got some crops out there, too, so give me a rain and I’ll be happy.”
A government report released by the Associated Press Monday says the state’s winter wheat harvest is mostly on track compared to this time a year ago.
The National Agricultural Statistics Service estimated that 22 percent of the wheat in the state has been cut. That is the same progress at this point a year ago and near the 25 percent average despite widespread rains this past week that slowed the harvest.
“I was out at the Manhattan co-op on Friday when a load of wheat came in,” McClure said. “I actually called Leonardville this morning and they thought the first load had come in on Thursday and maybe at most had 10 loads a day over the weekend.”
Monday, officials from the Leonardville elevator said average test weights and yields have been 60 pounds per bushel. But they’ve just seen 10,000 of the 400,000 bushels of wheat they expect to come in for this harvest.
Harvest activity has begun across much of the state. The exceptions are in the northwest and west-central parts of Kansas where cutting has yet to start.
The agency reports harvest is about 48 percent finished in south-central Kansas and 62 percent completed in southeast Kansas. It is just ramping up in north-central Kansas where 7 percent of the wheat has been harvested.
McClure also updated commissioners on corn.
“We got a good start this year, and got quite a bit planted in early April, then we had the rains his — slowed us down significantly — and then started planting again in early May,” he said.
Soybeans and grain sorghum are also in the ground, McClure said. In addition, he said alfalfa harvest has been successfully completed. He called this year’s brome harvest has been as good as it’s been in quite some time.
“On the farm side of things, we’re looking pretty good again,” McClure said.
“We’ve sure been fortunate on the weather,” Commission Chairman Ron Wells added.
