Harvest begins in west county

The farm operation of Leonard and Stacy Aune rolled its combines into the wheat field Tuesday afternoon and took a first cutting at Riparia to kick off Whitman County’s harvest. Wheat proved too green to continue, though, and plans were to get the full cutting underway Wednesday, according to Stacy Aune.

“Get it cut and get it in the bin,” she said.

Stacy said a good price and a good-looking crop have mode those regular evening lightning strikes of late even more scary.

“That lightning,” she said. “I look at it and just hope it finds something green.”

Barring any unexpected field fires, this year’s crop should be a good one, according to David Knopf with the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Office in Olympia.

Heavy spring moisture gave crops a great boost heading into this year’s harvest, said Knopf.

The agency is predicting winter wheat yields of 69 bushels per acre, spring wheat yields of 55 bushels per acre and barley yields of 75 bushels per acre.

“Those are pretty darn good,” said Knopf. “A little bit below last year, but last year was a pretty bumper year.”

Records fell in per-bushel yields in both spring and winter wheat last year, at 61 bushels and 75 bushels per acre respectively. Barley yields were higher than normal last year, with 72 bushels per acre.

Winter wheat harvest in the state is expected to be 1.7 million acres, down 60,000 acres from 2011. Spring wheat harvest is expected to be 480,000 acres, down 140,000 acres from last year.

The USDA derives its predicted yields from a combination of grower surveys and small test plots the agency keeps throughout the state.