HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The wheat harvest is slowly getting underway in the area. Wet fields have kept farmers from cutting, although some have been able to bring in a few loads.

Test weights have been better than expected. Calls to elevators in Pretty Prairie and reports from Partridge, Sterling and Nickerson show test weights still running around 60 pounds per bushel, with moisture still running between 12 and 12.5 percent. Yields are about what most expected, with lows running around 12 bushels-per-acre to a high of around 30.

Central Prairie Coop reported that the first wheat tested for protein levels registered around 12.5 to 13, which is average to a little above average.

Most elevators report sporadic cutting, but with hot weather in the forecast, things could really pick up as fields continue to dry.