Day 5, Kansas Wheat Harvest Report
This is day 5 of the Kansas Wheat Harvest Reports, brought to you by the Kansas Wheat Commission, Kansas Association of Wheat Growers, Kansas Grain and Feed Association and the Kansas Cooperative Council.
Harvest is progressing steadily across parts of Kansas, with yields generally around average despite challenges like strong winds, scattered rain and wheat streak mosaic virus. Weather and market conditions remain obstacles. Growers are staying optimistic and focused on finishing the season successfully.
Jess Schwieterman, who farms with his wife Laryce in Hamilton County near Syracuse, reports that this year’s harvest has been going well, despite strong winds and a few rain showers. They received a good November rain, but no winter moisture and a dry March and April until it started raining the week after Easter. The grain fill conditions were excellent, and yields have been right around average, similar to last year. Test weights have held up around 60 to 61 pounds per bushel.
High winds brought in a spring infection of Wheat Streak Mosaic Virus, turning the fields yellow. Schwieterman mentioned several varieties that have proven to have good resistance – KS Territory, KS Bill Snyder and KS Dallas. Their harvest began on June 20 and is nearly halfway finished. However, others in the area are just getting started. They have been pleased with yields, noting that the longer the fields are in no-till, the better they yield. They also manage for higher yields and have a strong fertility program. The biggest challenge this year has been the depressed wheat prices.
Kris Allen, general manager of Randall Farmers Coop in Jewell County, reports that harvest has been moving steadily across their two locations. Since taking in their first load on June 16, they’ve brought in around 700,000 bushels. Yields are ranging from 45 to 60 bushels per acre, and protein levels are holding solid at 12.6. Depending on the area, fields are about halfway to two-thirds cut, with combines rolling steadily. While this year isn’t quite as massive as last year’s crop, fueled by failed acres the season before, it’s still shaping up to be a strong and successful year.
Over halfway done with harvest, Brian Sieker, a farmer in Rice county, is facing the challenges of a wet season head-on, and staying optimistic.
“Mud is a challenge, but we’re grateful for it,” Sieker said. “Moisture is a welcome sight for our crop.”
On average, fields have produced 40-70 bushels per acre. Wheat Streak Mosaic Virus (WSMV) has taken a toll on both yield and test weight this year, prompting a change in how he’ll select varieties going forward.
“In the future, I will be taking varieties for WSMV; I haven’t in the past,” Sieker said. “We have to protect our neighbors because the investment is huge and margins are thin.”
With winter in mind, Sieker said he’s glad to have residue left in the fields. “It’s nice to have the stubble. It will hold us through the winter.”
Above all, he encourages others to check in with each other and find joy in the season.
“Check on your neighbors,” he said. “Enjoy the process. Harvest is a fun but stressful time.”
The 2025 Harvest Report is brought to you by the Kansas Wheat Commission, Kansas Association of Wheat Growers, Kansas Grain and Feed Association and the Kansas Cooperative Council. To follow along with harvest updates on social media, use #wheatharvest25. Tag us at @kansaswheat to share your harvest story and photos.
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Written by Hannah Blodgett for Kansas Wheat
On the roads (gravel) again
“On the gravel roads again. On the gravel roads again. We just can’t wait to get on the gravel roads again. Taking in the Flint Hills sights again with my friend. We just can’t wait to get on the gravel roads again.” (apologies to Willie Nelson)
Column readers will recall that a favorite pastime of mine is simply driving through the beautiful Kansas Flint Hills admiring the unique tallgrass prairies, the ever-changing landscape, and relishing the region’s current status and trying to absorb its history.
That pastime becomes doubly fun when I’m accompanied by my ol’ high school buddy, Canby Handy, from Platte City, Mo.
As a column reader refresher, our first such “gravel road” tour was a 3-day excursion of the southern Flint Hills that took in parts of Chase, Coffey, Greenwood, Elk, Montgomery, Chautauqua, Cowley, and Marion counties. Our second wuz a one-day tour of the southern part of Morris County. Our third tour wuz a 2-day tour of Wabaunsee County.
Well last Monday, Canby and I redoubled our fun by taking our wives, Neva Yield and MayBea Handy, along with us on a one day “Geezers & Geezerettes Tour of the Flint Hills on Gravel Roads.” It wuz his and my fourth such “gravel road” tour in recent years. This time the tour was the gravel roads of “southernish” Geary County. He did the driving in his comfortable F-150 pickup.
Here’s how the Geary County tour went down. For years I’ve traveled north/south highway 177 from Strong City to Manhattan and north-south highway 57 from the burg of Dwight to Junction City. But, not once have I traveled the east/west gravel roads between those highways and I “knew” there had to be a lot to see in that relatively small area. Canby hadn’t seen that area either.
So, on Monday morning Canby and MayBea drove to our home in Riley. We loaded four chairs, iced up a big cooler, and headed south for our trip. We stopped in Manhattan and bought some sub sandwiches — figgering that we’d “find some nice shade somewhere along the line” to eat our lunch.
We took McDowell Creek Road south out of Manhattan, stopping to see the Ashland Bottoms Research Farm of Kansas State University. Once we got south of Interstate 70, we happened upon the beautiful old St. Joseph’s Church and Cemetery. The native limestone church has been restored and modernized.
Then we took the first gravel road west which wuz Tully Hill Road. Shortly after noon, we happened upon a couple of guys preparing to round bale a little meadow of hay. The meadow wuz right next to a farm house yard containing four huge, clearly ancient oak trees. Canby, who never met a stranger he didn’t want to talk to, introduced himself to the farmers, and soon had their gracious permission for us to eat our picnic lunch in the driveway of the home in the shade of one of the ancient oaks. The trunk of the tree wuz so large that Canby and I couldn’t spread-eagle our arms around it. The farmer said the trees had to be at least 200 years olds.
For the next three hours we moseyed along both east/west and north/south gravel roads. The roads included Burley Road, Ridge Road, Zumbrum Road, Schermann Road, Florence Road, Moyer Road, Rosey-Loop, Welcome Road, Old Highway 13 and Old Highway 18. Welcome Road is as far south in Geary County as we got.
The tallgrass prairie looked excellent everywhere, but Canby and I wondered where all the cattle were. We drove for miles without seeing a bovine on the rangeland. We could tell most of the pastures hadn’t been grazed at all. I know national cattle numbers are way down, but I figgered there would still be some cattle grazing. We did see a goodly number of cow/calf pairs in the pastures and some feeders, but not many. Why? That’s a mystery.
We drove by any number of fine, old, stately remodeled limestone homes and barns. Of course, there were a number of crumbling old farmsteads, just like there are across rural America. We drove past the headquarters of the Moyer Ranch and I wondered if the current owners are related to a long-ago-deceased friend of mine, Wendell Moyer, who wuz the KSU Extension swine specialist decades ago.
We saw plenty of tallgrass prairie birds, including the Golden Plover, killdeers, buzzards, hawks, and unidentified small sparrow-like birds. We knew they were nesting and we wondered how in the world such birds find a specific place in the ocean of grass to build their nests and how they instinctively know where the nest is?
On our way home we stopped briefly trailhead for the Konza Prairie Preserve, an 8,000-acre-plus research rangeland. It wuz too hot to walk the trail.
We got home just before it started raining and cooled off, sending the high humidity hiking. We filled the evening with supper, cards, visiting, and adult beverages.
Canby and I said we’d get together for another such “gravel road” tour whenever it works out.
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Hoorah! We ate our first homegrown tomatoes for this summer. A couple of yellow tomatoes ripened first. It’s rare for us to get our first ripe tomato in June. And, it will be quite a while before we get the next ripe one. I’ve finished the hoop-trellises for my pole beans.
I’m happy to say that my gardening has reached the “Four W” stage. All I can do now is water, weed, worry, and wait. I can only control the first two.
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Words of wisdom for this week: “I get most of my exercise these days from shaking my head in disbelief.”
Have a happy and safe Fourth of July — a good ‘un.
Stop the Streak: K-State breeding programs working on WSMV resistance and tolerance, but producers must also do their part to control volunteer wheat
Contact: Marsha Boswell, [email protected]
For the audio version, visit kswheat.com.
When it comes to growing wheat, the hardest challenges are the ones a producer cannot address – a hailstorm that knocks down the best-looking field, storm clouds that pass overhead without ever letting a drop loose or a deer antler shed that takes out a combine tire. It is equally frustrating to feel as if there is nothing you can do to save a crop when a disease like Wheat Streak Mosaic Virus (WSMV) shows up in the spring and there is no chemical to stop the spread.
Blake Connelly with Alliance Ag & Grain in Ford County reported in a Kansas Wheat Harvest Report earlier this week that WSMV significantly impacted yields and test weights. Similarly, a central Kansas producer noted that WSMV “took over half of what the wheat could’ve potentially made.”
The elevated incidence of WSMV this year is not attributable to a single cause but rather a “perfect storm” of environmental conditions and management challenges, dating back to last summer and fall. An extended warm autumn in fall 2024 proved particularly detrimental, providing ideal conditions for the rapid proliferation of wheat curl mite populations—the primary vector for WSMV, Triticum mosaic virus (TriMV), and High Plains Mosaic Virus. The wheat curl mite is a small but mighty adversary that flourishes around 70 degrees Fahrenheit, meaning the prolonged mild temperatures allowed them to thrive.
Allan Fritz, K-State wheat breeder, emphasized that “volunteer wheat is still the primary issue,” serving as a crucial “green bridge” for mites and the virus to survive between cropping seasons. He noted that while many producers maintained excellent volunteer control, economic pressures or the sheer volume of volunteer flushes in some areas led to less diligent management, inadvertently creating reservoirs for mites and the virus.
Even hidden volunteer wheat within double-cropped fields or mixed in summer cover crops can harbor mites, becoming sources of inoculum for new wheat crops. A mild winter further exacerbated the problem by allowing more mites to overwinter successfully, leading to high populations capable of dispersing long distances—up to one or two miles—and resulting in concerning levels of viral diseases across the state.
The K-State wheat breeding programs are continually working to increase both resistance and tolerance to these viruses in up-and-coming wheat varieties in the pipeline. These genetic improvements are critical because there is no effective treatment for WSMV once an infection occurs. As a result, K-State’s breeding programs are dedicated to developing varieties that can either resist infection or tolerate its presence with minimal yield impact.
The Wsm2 gene has long been a cornerstone of WSMV resistance, present in varieties like KS Territory, KS Dallas, KS Bill Snyder, KS Big Bow and KS Mako. While offering good WSMV protection, Fritz noted a crucial limitation: Wsm2 does not protect against TriMV, which is increasing in frequency and often occurs in mixed infections, leading to more severe yield losses and highlighting the need for broader spectrum resistance.
Beyond outright resistance, K-State breeders are integrating and enhancing tolerance in new varieties. Tolerance provides a baseline of protection, but it does not mean producers will not have infections or yield loss.
“Tolerance means we still see symptoms, they’re just not as bad,” Fritz explained. “We think that’s why it’s really important for producers to continue to do their part to control volunteer wheat.”
A major breakthrough in wheat breeding is the combined utilization of Cmc4, a wheat curl mite resistance gene, and Wsm1. Fritz explained when mites feed on varieties expressing the Cmc4 gene, they can still transmit the virus, but they will die before reproducing, effectively limiting the mite population spread within the field.
“It isn’t like a silver bullet,” Fritz said. “Those mites can blow in. They’re going to feed, they’re going to transmit the virus, then they’ll die. It’s a good thing to keep the mite populations down, but it needs to be integrated with good genetic resistance to the virus.”
Wsm1 is another gene in the wheat breeding toolbox, providing resistance to both WSMV and TriMV, but the gene had traditionally had a large yield drag. By teaming up with K-State’s Wheat Genetics Resource Center and the USDA wheat genetics program under Dr. Mary Guttieri, researchers think they may have solved the riddle of how to incorporate Wsm1 from intermediate wheatgrass without that drag on final harvest yields.
“We have evidence now that we’ve lost that yield drag,” Fritz said. “So, we can actually use this gene for WSMV protection and not lose yield potential.”
The K-State wheat breeding program is now backcrossing both the Cmc4 and Wsm1 genes into adapted, high-performing varieties, including KS Providence and KS Mako. This strategy aims to create “super packages” with multiple resistance genes, offering comprehensive and durable protection. For instance, backcrossing into KS Mako will result in a variety possessing Wsm1, Wsm2 and Cmc4, providing a multi-layered defense.
While still a few years out from commercial availability, these breeding advancements represent a remarkably rapid delivery of solutions, considering the typical 11-year timeline for variety release. K-State is also routinely incorporating these resistance genes into many new breeding lines.
Fritz consistently stresses, however, that genetic resistance, no matter how advanced, is not a silver bullet.
“I don’t want people to lean solely on the genetics,” he cautioned. “This isn’t like, oh, we can go to the grocery store and buy another one of these. These genes are hard to find. They’re hard to transfer. They are not frequent in the gene pool.”
Therefore, integrated disease management remains absolutely crucial. Specifically, producers should look towards aggressive volunteer management and variety selection for fall 2025 due to the severity of WSMV infections this summer. Producers should also carefully consider their cover crop choices, so that cereal species or pockets of hidden volunteer do not inadvertently become hosts for wheat curl mites, even without showing symptoms.
“We know we can actually lose these resistance genes,” Fritz warned, “so we need to be really mindful about putting together management practices with the resistance. We still need to take care of our volunteer. We still need to do all those things that we need to do to manage this as if we didn’t have resistance and then use the resistance as the insurance policy.”
Learn more about how to stop the streak of WSMV at kswheat.com/wheatstreak.
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Written by Julia Debes for Kansas Wheat
Day 4, Kansas Wheat Harvest Report
This is day 4 of the Kansas Wheat Harvest Reports, brought to you by the Kansas Wheat Commission, Kansas Association of Wheat Growers, Kansas Grain and Feed Association and the Kansas Cooperative Council.
Harvest is underway across the state, with progress varying by region. Yields are showing improvement in some areas, while scattered showers and heavy rains have slowed harvest in others. Test weights remain steady overall, though some growers continue to face challenges from wheat streak mosaic virus.
Harvest is in full swing for producers in Russell County, where yields are proving to be a bright spot in the 2025 Kansas wheat harvest. Jayce Dickerson reported their first load went to the elevator on June 18, and as of June 24, they were about halfway through harvest.
“We’re averaging around 60 bushels per acre,” Dickerson said. “We’re doing really good.” That’s a solid rebound compared to previous seasons—especially three years ago, when the family didn’t cut any wheat at all. “Two years ago, we cut some; last year, we cut most; and this year, we’re cutting it all because it’s actually really good.”
In Wilson County, farmer Randy Small began harvesting around June 12, with a short pause before getting back into the fields on June 19. Now nearing the finish line, he expects to wrap up within the next couple of days if everything goes to plan. Test weights have been averaging around 57 to 58. While the recent moisture could have caused delays, Randy says conditions have remained favorable overall. He planted three different wheat varieties this season and reports that all have performed consistently across the board.
Harvest is underway in Bazine, where CGS General Manager Brad Cowan reported they took in their first load on June 18. He says the elevator has received around 235,000 bushels, and harvest is about 20 to 25 percent complete. Yields are averaging near 50 bushels per acre, though it’s still early to get a full picture. Protein levels are running lower than usual, currently averaging 11.12, with a wide range from 9 to 14. While harvest began about five days earlier than it did last year, challenges remain. Wheat streak mosaic virus is showing up in isolated pockets and hitting those fields hard, and heavy rainfall from about 10 days ago is still causing problems in certain areas.
The 2025 Harvest Report is brought to you by the Kansas Wheat Commission, Kansas Association of Wheat Growers, Kansas Grain and Feed Association and the Kansas Cooperative Council. To follow along with harvest updates on social media, use #wheatharvest25. Tag us at @kansaswheat to share your harvest story and photos.
The 2025 Harvest Report is brought to you by the Kansas Wheat Commission, Kansas Association of Wheat Growers, Kansas Grain and Feed Association and the Kansas Cooperative Council. To follow along with harvest updates on social media, use #wheatharvest25. Tag us at @kansaswheat to share your harvest story and photos.
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Written by Hannah Blodgett for Kansas Wheat
