Drenched fields to delay local wheat harvest

Local wheat farmers might be eating hotdogs and setting off fireworks rather than harvesting their crops this weekend.

Many farmers target July 4 to harvest wheat. However, the ground is so wet due to record rainfall and flooding, many will not be able to get into their fields, local ag officials said.

Montezuma area farmer Andy Schwieterman said he will wait until the end of the week to see if his fields are dry enough to harvest.

"(The wheat is) ready to come off," he said. "If the weather holds up and the ground holds up, we plan to take some off."

One reason Schwieterman plants wheat is so he can use the straw left after harvest to bed his dairy cattle. If he can get his wheat harvested in time, he may plant forage for his cattle in the same field.

"It (planting forage) depends on how late we get the wheat off," he said. "I have until the middle of July to the end of July to plant forage."

Mercer County farmers in recent years have typically planted about 15,000 acres of wheat per year, said Chris Gibbs, executive director of the Mercer County Farm Service Agency. That's down from a high of 28,000 acres 20 years ago, he said.

Gibbs said a small number of wheat acres was harvested in the northern part of the county last week, but he did not have any yield results.

"Saturated ground is going to make harvest more difficult," he said. "The good news is that a cursory inspection of the wheat in the county did not reveal any adverse quality issues such as fungus, blank heads or sprouting heads."

Wet conditions can contribute to fungus growth.

Auglaize County farmers plant between 27,000 and 28,000 acres of wheat a year, said Anita Green, executive director of the Auglaize County Farm Service Agency. A small amount of wheat was harvested in Auglaize County last week near Maria Stein, she said, adding that it was in a smaller area that did not receive as much rain.

Delays in harvest may impact the crop's quality this year, she said.

"The quality of the wheat is subject and questionable for every bit it is delayed," she said.

Sprouting of the kernels on the head is the biggest concern right now, she said. Once the wheat head sprouts, it becomes useless for milling into flour. Local farmers grow soft, red winter wheat, which is used for milling.

She has not heard any reports of vomitoxin, which is produced by a fungus on wheat and cannot be tolerated in high amounts by farm animals.

Gibbs said it has been reported that elevators will be checking local wheat for vomitoxin.

If the levels are too high, elevators may reject the grain or farmers may receive a reduced price.

The only upside of the late wheat harvest might be that producers can relax and take in a picnic or other event.

"Many farmers harvest wheat July 4 and miss picnics, festivals and community events," Green said. "That will not be the case this year. They should be able to make all those picnics and community events."