Crops
looking strong as harvest continues
By Will DeMarco, Whitman County (Colfax) Gazette 8/16/2018
As
the 2018 harvest rolls on, growers are reporting encouraging crop numbers.
Pacific
Northwest Farmers Co-op Grain Division Manager David Weitz at Colfax said the
area's harvest this year is 20-30 percent better than average with 75 percent
of grain harvested so far.
"It's
been a fantastic harvest," Weitz said. "We have good quality wheat
and huge yields."
Weitz
attributed the local harvest's success to a combination of high rainfall in the
fall and winter, followed by largely cool temperatures this spring and summer.
He added that last week's heat wave doesn't seem to have impacted local crops.
"The
wheat has not been stressed at all this year," Weitz noted.
Wheat
protein is low this year, Weitz said, which he explained is good news for soft
white wheat, but can adversely effect hard red winter wheat prices.
Finally,
Weitz said falling numbers, referring to the stage at which protein and starch
in wheat kernels break down, are not a significant worry for local growers this
year.
"I'm
seeing a lot of farmers with smiles on their faces," Weitz said.
Mike
Bagott, assistant manager at Palouse Grain Growers, called the harvest in his
neck of the woods "pretty spectacular overall" with around half of
winter wheat harvested so far and spring wheat forthcoming.
"Everybody
seems to be pretty happy, especially in relation to the past couple
years," Bagott said.
Bagott
explained that 2016's harvest was hit hard by falling numbers and 2017 saw low
crop yields, but said neither of those issues concern local farmers this year.
He also commented that crop prices are meeting or exceeding averages this year.
Echoing
Weitz, Bagott said the local weather has cooperated this year to result in a
strong harvest.
"If
you think about the summer overall, it's been pretty cool," Baggot
explained. "We haven't had the longer stretches of brutal heat like years
past."
According
to Washington Grain Commission Chief Executive Officer Glen Squires,
approximately 150 million bushels of wheat are expected to be harvested across
the state, up from 142.5 million in 2017.
The
statewide winter wheat estimate as of Aug. 10 is 77 bushels per acre, up four
from last year, and spring wheat is projected at 48 bushels per acre, which is
an increase of three from the previous year.
The
state average of winter wheat heads is rated at 42.3 per square foot as of Aug.
10, according to a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) report. This
marks a dramatic increase from 35.7 per square foot in 2017. The USDA does not
make projections on spring wheat heads.
This
year's crop appears to be of high quality, too. The USDA rates 90 percent of
Washington's winter wheat and 78 percent of spring wheat as either
"good" or "excellent" condition.
Dennis
Koong, deputy director of the USDA Northwest Field Office, said winter wheat
harvest is 70 percent complete as of Aug. 10, which is down from 71 percent
this time last year and below the five-year average of 77 percent. Spring wheat
harvest was estimated at 35 percent, compared to 39 percent at this time in
2017 and the 48 percent five-year average.
Helped
along by an usually wet fall and winter, Squires said this year's harvest
outlook is positive across the board.
"It's
a good crop. We've been fortunate to have good soil moisture this year, which
has definitely helped," Squires noted.
According
to Squires, the statewide protein content average is rated at 9.3 percent.
#
