How Does Your Crop Grow

The Golden Triangle's not the only place it rained...received word this morning from one of the custom cutting guys down in Parrington, Oklahoma that they also experienced some shower activity this past week. Yesterday (Tuesday), they had 1 1/2 inches of rain and the straw had been tough threshing before that. From what I can ascertain, the crew has about 1 1/2 days left at Parrington, Oklahoma and then are moving up to Leoti, Kansas, which is just east of Tribune, Kansas which is just east of Tribune, Kansas in West Central, Kansas. The stubble-back (recrop) wheat in Oklahoma is running about 20 bushels and the summer fallow wheat is around 50 bushels. One field of stubble-back had milo on it last year but didn't make a crop and was destroyed, plus the wheat they cut this year made around 30 bushels. The storms usually go from northwest to southwest, but this year they are brewing from the east and going west. One fellow at Sharon Springs, Kansas, close to Trent Knobie, got hailed out and another guy's irrigated wheat was flattened by wind and rain at Tribune. The field the guys were cutting in is thick with goat-grass and is reportedly only yielding 15 to 20 bushels per acres. Anything above 13.5 moisture, the elevators there are docking on and also they dock for goat-grass. From what I understand, the wheat in Kansas will not be ripe, other than the winter wheat planted on winter wheat-milo-summer fallow. Re-cropping with milo seems to work about like about like planting on wheat-barley stubble out here in the Golden Triangle. Another custom guy in Sharon Springs, Kansas says that he only has about 10 days of grass left for his 900 head of livestock and then he doesn't know what's going to happen. Down in Oklahoma, the cattlemen are in the same situation. Out in Denver, the folks could certainly use some rain. I remember old Bob...he used to say "we'll take what we can get". The Denver wheat is about a month away from harvest, which, if I recall, is about 10 days earlier than normal. 50 bushel stuff is gone and they're hoping for 40 now and if it doesn't rain, 30 bushels would be nice. Farming's certainly not easy but I think I speak for all of us here in North Central Montana when I say that we are so supportive or our area farmers and ranchers and what they do for all of us.