Sumner Newscow report — The Kansas Wheat Association reported last week that the state’s wheat harvest is 96 percent complete.

Even so, there’s still plenty of wheat yet to be harvested in Sumner County as of Monday morning. Rain has kept farmers out of the fields, and time could be running out to complete the harvest.

Most wheat farmers have harvested at least some of their crops, but there’s plenty left out there.

Local harvester Jake Geifer said he has about 500 acres left to harvest near South Haven. At this point, it is questionable whether that will be harvested at all.

“At some point, there’s just nothing left. There’s nothing to do but wait and see now,” he said of his last 500 acres.

He had to spray the wheat and then wait 10 days to harvest. He waited, and then Thursday, there was three more inches of rain.

He has heard there’s a lot more wheat around South Haven and the southern part of Sumner County that has not been harvested because of wet weather.  On Thursday, parts of Highway 166 were closed near Arkansas City due to flooding.

According to K-State Extension articles, wheat remains acceptable for up to two weeks after it is ripe, but its quality gradually declines. After two weeks, it deteriorates even faster.

It’s been two weeks since wheat harvest began, so it could deteriorate rapidly now.

Tegan Isaacs said she hasn’t been out in a few days.

“Just have to wait and see what happens with this latest rain,” she said before the Wednesday morning rain.  “It’s not looking too good; a lot of it is sprouting. It’s been a trying year.”

The sporadic rain that keeps farmers out of the fields is somewhat unusual this year. Geifer said that usually, you can get out there eventually, but this year is unlike anything he has seen in farming since the 1980s.

When the wheat starts to sprout, harvesting becomes harder, and the quality declines significantly. At some point, local elevators won’t take it if it has too much sprouting.

Isaacs said the yield of what she has been able to harvest has been good.

Statewide, the average is approximately 50 bushels per acre, which is slightly better than in previous years. That is about what it has been in Sumner County, too.

In south central Kansas, Sumner, Harper, and Cowley counties, test weights have dropped after rains on the ripe wheat, but the region is averaging 58 pounds per bushel. Protein is averaging 11%, and yields are varied by location — average to slightly below average overall.