Wheat Harvest Underway In Kansas

The 2013 Kansas Wheat Harvest is underway.

Steve Inslee, manager of Kiowa-based O.K. Co-op said two Barber County farmers began cutting wheat Wednesday. Inslee did not expect harvest in the area — which is usually the first in Kansas to begin harvesting wheat each year — to reach full-swing until this weekend.

Of the wheat cut so far, Inslee said quality was good with test weights near 60 pounds per bushel. It is too early to estimate yields, he said.

Inslee expects Barber County farmers to harvest only about one-third of what they harvested last year due to drought conditions that forced farmers west of Kiowa to abandon their crops.