Wheat Harvest

The first is a typical irrigated field, the second is my youngest in a field of dryland for reference (probably 3-4 out of 10 years, dryland wheat won't even make out in this arid country), and the last are custom cutters Dad hired. They have 3 9760 John Deeres and can wipe out a quarter section (160 acres) in a couple of hours.

I felt sorry for the cranky neighbor who broke down right next to them in his old 105 John Deere and was trying to work on his machine in their dust...

Tim

The main limitation here is how much fuel bill can you stand per well!! A lot of guys are paying $4000-$6000 per well per month, since natural gas has gone up. Plus, a lot of the wells sure don't produce like they use to - 300-500 gallons per minute is typical.

Typical irrigated out here will run from 60-90 bushels. You hear coffee shop talk of 100, but an old custom cutter told me one time HE'D never cut any that good.

Dryland is ranging from 20-50 bushels this year, but last year for example, Dad didn't cut a single stalk on 900 acres of planted dryland ground. That was the first time he'd ever been completely shut out on wheat, but it was a really terrible year.

Test weights have been running just a little under 60 lbs per bushel.

It is part of the High Plains - flat arid country from West Texas near Amarillo on up north through eastern Colorado, western KS, and further north. Most of the ground is irrigated if the land has the water under it, dryland if it doesn't.

A lot of the poor guys further east of us in big wheat country have had a terrible time with Hessian fly infestations, a very hard late freeze, too much late rain, etc, but we've been very blessed this year - with a huge snow in the winter and pretty timely rains this spring.

We usually average about 18 inches of moisture a year. Often 2-3 inches of that comes in a 20 minute drenching.

Dad is pushing 80 and said it's one of the best wheat years he's ever seen - WITH the price being good...