Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First

Wheat Harvest Over, But County Producers Keep Chugging Along

While wheat harvest has concluded for 2019, ag producers have not slowed down one bit. They still have wheat to seed, crops to tend to, and bean, beet, millet and corn harvest.

Farming primarily in the northwestern and southern part of Kimball county, John Perry said they were about half done seeding their wheat. The varieties of wheat that they plant are Good Streak and SYWolf.

Perry, like the rest of the producers, are extremely pleased with the moisture.

“It’s wonderful,” he said.

Perry said everything is late. He figured that his corn needs until the end of the month to mature, but he was optimistic about it.

“A freeze might make it lighter, but it will still be OK,” he said. “We made it by the last full moon.”

They are still working on their proso millet, and Perry estimated that they would start harvesting the dry edible beans in the next two weeks.

Meanwhile, a producer in the southeast part of Kimball County expressed concern for his corn.

“It is at least a month behind,” he said. “The corn is what keeps me awake at night.”

He said the snow in the spring slowed it down as well as the early summer coolness. He reported that it has just started to dent, but it needs time and heat to continue maturing.

He said they are seeding wheat in the southeast portion of the county and the “moisture has been wonderful,” but – and there is always a but – it is extremely difficult to pick-up the proso millet. They have received rain after rain and can’t get the millet to dry.