Winter wheat harvest slowly progressing in region; some spring wheat cut
Farm and Ranch August 4, 2011 The winter wheat harvest may pick up this week in the northern and Pacific Northwest states but at the start of this week progress was still well behind normal. Rippey: “Just a very few number of fields, 7% harvested in Washington state. That number should be 32% for the end of July. Montana two percent harvested. 34% is the five year average. In Idaho also, just two percent harvested, 16% the five year average.” USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey. In Oregon the five year average for the winter wheat harvest at this time is 56 percent complete but this year only 18 percent had been cut as of July 31st. There are some unofficial reports of big yields in areas of Umatilla County, 120 bushel dryland wheat on what normally produces 45 to 55 bushels. In Washington harvesting in Walla Walla County was the most advanced at about 25 percent complete. Nationally the winter wheat harvest is 81 percent complete, just five points behind normal. Development of the U.S. spring wheat crop has been slow too. As for crop condition Rippey says; Rippey: “Conditions remain reasonably good but have trailed off a little bit. Seventy percent good to excellent, seven percent very poor to poor. A week ago those numbers were 74% and 5% respectively as this year‘s crop has been hit just a little bit by the heat. Not as much as areas to the south though.” Oregon reports seven percent of its spring wheat harvested. None had been cut in Washington or Idaho to begin this week. Some areas in Washington report the spring wheat harvest as being as much as six weeks away. I’m Bob Hoff and that’s the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on Northwest Aginfo Net.
