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Star of the West: Michigan wheat harvest off to strong start with good grain quality

Farmers across Michigan are pushing to get wheat harvested before quality concerns become an issue.

Keith Martus at Star of the West tells Brownfield the first deliveries started coming to the mill over the holiday weekend.

“So far, quality has been good,” he shares. “We encourage growers to harvest it earlier, at 20 percent moisture or below, and commercially dry it just so the quality factor stays intact.”

If the weather holds, Martus says harvest should wrap up in the next week or two.

“From start to finish, usually it’s three to three and a half weeks from the first load to the last load, but probably the majority of it comes in within 10 days to two weeks after harvest,” he says.

The USDA says Michigan wheat is 22 percent harvested.

Corn in the state is 17 percent silking and rated 72 percent good to excellent. Soybeans are 33 percent blooming, six percent setting pods, and rated 60 percent good to excellent.