Wheat harvest looking big, really big

Yield from this year’s winter wheat crop is the third best on record, according to a report released by the United States Department of Agriculture’s statistics service Monday.

With one-third of the state’s crop in the bin, David Knopf, director of the service’s Washington state office, reported average yields of 71 bushels per acre. Two bushels over the July 1 forecast and just four bushels lower than last year’s record crop.

In total, the state is expected to glean 119 million bushels of winter wheat from 1.67 million planted acres.

Spring wheat yields are expected to hit an average of 56 bu...