Combines will soon be rolling in Geary County wheat fields. Harvest time should arrive in the next few days.
Chuck Otte, Geary County Extension Agent, has been talking with local wheat producers. "It is getting very close. Several I've talked to are thinking they're going to try to test cut on Monday. " Otte added at this point we're within a matter of days.
Otte noted he not overly optimistic about the harvest this year. "We had that heat and dry weather especially in early May. Then it turned off wet and cool and now it just went back to that blast furnace in nothing flat. That's going to hurt the yield, it's going to hurt test weights. I think it's going, to be kind, a lackluster harvest. "
Otte estimated that there are approximately 7,000 to 8,000 acres of wheat planted this year in Geary County, down from about 20,000 acres a few years ago.