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Nebraska wheat yields ‘a pleasant surprise’

The wheat harvest is rolling through western Nebraska this week.

Keith Olsen of Grant in southwest Nebraska says they have been “pleasantly surprised” by their dryland (non-irrigated) yields, considering the crop’s poor start.

“It came through the winter looking pretty tough,” Olsen says. “We were awfully dry last fall when we planted and didn’t get any moisture this winter.  But around the first of April we started getting some moisture—and good moisture ever since—and the wheat really came on.”

Olsen says he’s heard of dryland yields as high as 70 bushels per acre, but he notes that hail also hurt yields in some areas.

Olsen is the president of Nebraska Farm Bureau.

AUDIO: Keith Olsen (4 min MP3)