Harvesting of the 2011 HRW wheat crop is now approaching the Nebraska border and is about to slow its northward progress dramatically. Over the last couple of months the crop south of I-70 (generally central Kansas on an east/west line) has been the dividing line between drought stricken wheat and areas that have received generous amounts (bordering at times on too much) moisture. Because of the cooler wet weather, crop development in areas north of I-70 have been behind the 5 year average (10 days or so) in contrast to south of I-70 which was/is running that much or more ahead of the 5 year average.
Harvest continues to move northward from Amarillo in the Texas Panhandle which is the only major area in Texas remaining to be cut while the Oklahoma’s harvest is quickly winding down. Kansas did not make as much progress with harvest as hoped during the past week because of frequent rain showers.
The first samples of the 2011 HRW crop are in the lab for evaluation and are consistent with local observations. Test weights are averaging well over 61pounds per bushel with outstanding protein levels (exceeding 13%). Additionally, moisture is extremely low (compared to normal crop years) and dockage is also low and probably a result of the very dry conditions which did not allow germination of cool season grassy weeds in this crop. Shrunken and broken kernels are above last year’s average and were not unexpected considering the extreme drought conditions this crop developed under. Thousand kernel weights will be available in next week’s report.
| Tst | Exp | MST | Pro% | DKG | TKW | FN | Grade | Test | Weight | FM | DMG | S&B | DEF |
| 39 | 530 | 10.2 | 13.3 | 0.4 | 1HRW | 61.6 | 81.0 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 1.7 | 1.9 | ||
| FINAL | 2010 | ||||||||||||
| 468 | final | 11.0 | 11.8 | 0.6 | 29.9 | 401 | 1HRW | 61.0 | 80.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 1.8 |
View this PDF for visual test data from the 2009 harvest.