June 14th, 2013

The 2013 HRW wheat harvest took a big leap this week into southern Kansas after hot dry winds dried most areas hardest hit by drought and freeze.  Wheat is now being delivered to elevators on the (western side) of south central Kansas along the Oklahoma border.  Cutting is now in full swing from north Texas to the Kansas border.  Texas is now at the 5-year average for harvested acres (35%) on this date.  The southern half of Texas is now 90% complete with cutting, north central areas are over 50% complete, while harvest is just now starting for areas of the Texas Panhandle (that area has suffered severe drought and freeze(s) that will severely affect final yields).

The crop in Texas, Oklahoma and southern Kansas were a week to 10 days behind normal development just a month ago it is now mature and most areas are ready for harvesting.  The rapid development was reflected in first 30 samples delivered for evaluation.  While test weight and protein are very good, shrunken kernels and small kernels through visual inspection are prevalent from those areas where drought and freeze were major influences during most developmental stages of growth.

Producers and elevator managers have reported yields generally averaging 15 bu./ac to 25 bu./ac (1.0 to 1.7 tons/ha).  Test weights are averaging 58 lb to 60 lb/bu (76.4 – 78.9 kg/hl).  Early individual location reports of protein have ranged from 10% to over 17%, but have generally averaged between 13% and 14%.

Harvest Summary
Tst Exp MST Pro% DKG TKW FN Grade Test Weight FM DMG S&B DEF
30 500 11.2 13.5 0.67 2HRW 60.1 79.1 0.1 0.1 2.0 2.2
FINAL 2012
538 Final 10.7 12.6 0.48 29.0 409 1HRW 61.1 80.4 0.1 0.1 1.2 1.4