Wet weather delays wheat harvest

By Jillian Lucas

Due to the extensive amounts of rainfall over the last month, wheat producers in the area fell behind schedule in terms of harvesting.

Local farmer Ace Reames stated that a typical harvest begins the last few weeks of May. However, due to recent weather, he and his father, John Ross Reames, were not able to start their harvest until June 11.

“ This year has provided a little later crop than normal, but so far the quality of the wheat has been really good,” stated Reames.  “I was a little concerned about how the weeds from the rain would affect the crop, but so far, so good.”

Another local farmer, Brad Petree, is having timing issues of his own due to the weather.

“All this rain has put everything on hold,” Petree said. “Cutting our coastal hay is the priority at this point, but we are hoping to start harvesting the wheat in soon.”

Petree explained that putting down a good weed killer earlier in the season has allowed him to put off the harvest for just a little bit longer.

“Putting that weed killer down is providing us the time we need to get everything done and still have a good wheat harvest,” he said. 

The heavy spring rains might have pushed back the start date for farmers, but it didn’t seem to have only negative ramifications.

Reames explained that due to the rain, he was averaging a higher number of bushels per acre this year compared to some previous years.

“So far we are getting more bushels per acre than normal, which is great,” he said. “So the rain did help out in some ways.” 

Petree felt the same.

“Without the rain, we wouldn’t have the crop we have,” he said. “But it’s definitely made the harvest process much more difficult.”

According to Petree, he and his family are hoping to average 40 to 50 bushels per acre once he is  able to get started.