Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
After a long summer of custom cutting through Oklahoma and Kansas, Sheridan Magninie helps cut wheat just north of Kimball. Sheridan had Nash Burback with her in the combine. As of Aug. 10, they are cutting in the Egbert, Wyo., area. Sheridan anticipated they would be done this week in Egbert, as she will leave for the University of Wyoming on Aug. 30.
The Kimball-Banner County Fair was a great place to capture a couple of producers, find out how the harvest is progressing, and hear about the outlook on their other crops. Many were watching kids, grandkids or neighbors showing animals.
Bushnell area producer Dave Schnell said they had a "good harvest." They finished on Thursday, Aug. 1, and the first field they started cutting on was dry with a moisture content of 9, so they were able to get busy and stay busy.
"We never hit anything higher than 14," he said. "The wheat was good; even our irrigated averaged 100 bushel per acre. We had some hailed wheat. Even being hailed as bad as it was, the wheat was fine."
Schnell was pleased because even his dryland averaged 10-15 bushel over average. The weather made a lot of difference this year.
"We were lucky," he said.
The Schnells also have corn and alfalfa. The corn is behind, but it looks good, according to Schnell. He said they just need days and heat, maybe even 45 days.
"It is a lot better than I thought it would be a month ago," he said.
Last evening, Friday, Aug. 9, they got an inch of rain, which really helped the dryland corn. Schnell said the corn is pollinating now and all we can do is "hope for the best."
The alfalfa has been exceptional.
"We're actually cutting third cutting right now," Schnell said. "If the weather sticks with us we might get a fourth cutting."
He shared that while traveling to Greeley, Colo., he saw lots of uncut wheat, especially south of Carpenter, Wyo. He said custom cutters are sitting around waiting, but the moisture is still between 16-18. The problem now is weeds; weeds are going to be an issue for those producers.
Northern neighbors Martin and Nancy Olsen from Banner County have not finished cutting their wheat and they expressed their frustration. They debated as to whether or not they were half done. Unfortunately, the Martins have not been able to get full days of cutting in.
Martin said they have had "their own personal storms. Twice, it just stormed on us."
Nancy said, "The wheat won't dry out, so then you can't start very early. Then it rains. This morning it was foggy."
Only one day was a full day of cutting. The remaining days were half days or just a couple of hours of cutting.
The Olsens concluded that conditions "look pretty good, but it is getting worse every day, and the weeds are coming on."
"It has just been a miserable, miserable time," Nancy said.
