BaldwinCity.com

Monday morning saw the first load of wheat brought to the Baldwin Feed Co. elevator. Leonard Heffner, who farms west of Baldwin City, was first in line with what could be a lucrative crop this year.

"The test weight was 56 pounds, which is probably as good a wheat as we're going to see this year," said Steve Wilson, owner of Baldwin Feed Co. "Wasn't too much of the (wheat) scab damage in it, which we'll probably see in some of the later loads."

With an abundance of rain over the past several months, farmers have been delayed in both planting soybeans and corn, as well as harvesting wheat. Wet fields have kept farmers from doing much and has them behind schedule, said Wilson.

"Everybody's out there trying to get beans planted. If we don't get any rain this week, I think we'll see more (wheat cut)," he said.

County Agent Bill Wood agreed about the rain problems.

"It's messing the wheat harvest up," said Wood. "I hadn't seen any cut. I'd think the first load would be cut from southern Douglas County."

Wood said the 56 pound test weight is lower than average, but it's not as low as he expected and he is sure most test weights will be even lower.

"That's a little below the 60, but not as bad as I thought it would be," said Wood. "It doesn't look good for the wheat harvest this year and that's too bad because the price is up there."

Wheat has been as high as $10 a bushel. But, inputs - most notably fertilizer and fuel - are also at astronomical highs, Wilson said.