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County wheat harvest coming to an end

With mostly clear skies and favorable conditions, Cheyenne County’s wheat harvest went by quickly this year, and was mostly finished by the weekend.

This year’s harvest has been deemed a success, with overall good test weights and about average yields.

The only disappointment, according to Blake Mackey, general manager at Scoular Grain, was low protein levels, around nine percent.

“It was a good harvest,” Mackey said.

Mackey said test weights average around 62 or 63 pounds per bushel, and estimated average yields were in the 45 bushel-per-acre range.

Brad Fraass, Farm Service Agency executive director in Sidney, agreed, saying estimates he has received indicated an average to above average harvest. The county-wide average is around 36 bushels per acre.

Prior to harvest, striped wheat rust was a concern, and Mackey said it may have had a small effect on some aspects of final tallies. While many producers sprayed to treat against rust, Mackey said it may have been a part of the protein issue.

One difference in this year’s harvest was that the Loan Deficiency Program (LDP) program came into the picture for the first time in about a decade.

LDP is a program where a base, the county loan rate, price is established. If the cash wheat price on a five-day average is lower than that target, $3.02 per bushel in Cheyenne County, government payments make up the difference.

Fraass urged wheat producers to check into eligibility for LDP. He said all producers should at least look at the possibilities prior to selling wheat, even if it is on a future contract.

 

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