"Tall" Todd reports that he is FINALLY getting to harvest some winter wheat in the Leoti, Kansas area. The boys had to move some 40 miles west of Leoti & 10 miles south, within 2 miles of the Colorado State Line to find dry wheat. The ground down there is marginal farm ground & with this year's lack of moisture, they were cutting some 9 bushel stuff in the poorest spots, but there were spots that also yielded almost 20 bushels! Todd said that Garden City, to the south & east of Leoti, received another 4 inches of rain recently. The weeds are starting to come in the crops but are not tall enough yet to present a problem. Around Leoti, they have had a great deal of wind, & since the farmers have gone back to conventional farming (mechanically tilling(, the wind has started the ground to blow, so there is "Dust-in-the-Air"...not to be confused with the Kansas tune, "Dust In The Wind." The temperatures have been in the high 90's, so the wet crops are drying down fast. Todd added that the Colorado crops will be ready by the time they are finished in Kansas, & after Colorado, he is scheduled to move up to the Forsyth area. Welcome back to Montana Tall Todd! Asked if he had any kind of harvest price, Todd said around $31 per acres, unless there were long hauls to the bind or elevator. He said on the long hauls, he prefers to hire custom grain haulers as they are able to haul larger, legal loads. One of his long hauls is from Forsyth to Billings as they are harvesting malt barley (I'll drink to that!) & it has to go to a malt elevator in Billings. The crops in our Golden Triangle are looking good due to recent rains & lack of the "White Combine" & some of the winter wheat's awns over in the Fort Benton area are getting their golden color but I feel that is probably due to the variety & not so much because the grain is starting to turn. Who knows...if I knew anything about farming, I'd probably be out in the south 40 right now & not sitting here with my teeth in my mouth inside the Radiator Station! I'll keep you updated & posted on the harvest season in the Golden Triangle on future Puffman Blogs.

More From KSEN AM 1150