Written by Shelby Priddle, assistant director of communications, Kansas Wheat
This is day 7 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 has come to a halt for many in the state of Kansas due to thunderstorms starting Saturday afternoon. The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service crop progress report ending June 21, 2026, states that the Kansas wheat harvest is 58 percent complete, well ahead of the 26 percent five-year average. Winter wheat conditions were rated 23 percent very poor, 32 percent poor, 31 percent fair, 14 percent good and 0 percent excellent.
Jeanne Falk Jones, K-State Northwest Area Agronomist in Colby, Kansas, reported violent storms in Colby and surrounding areas on Saturday night and early Sunday morning. This series of storms produced tornado-like winds, significant hail damage and lots of precipitation in a very short amount of time.
“We have had some pretty substantial hail in some pockets and a lot of severe wind that came with pretty significant amounts of rain that fell fairly quickly,” said Jones. “We’re going to be out for at least a few days before we can get back into even thinking about harvesting some more.”
One of Jones’s concerns going into the planting season is the volunteer wheat that creates the “green bridge” for the wheat curl mite — which causes the Wheat Streak Mosaic Virus Complex (WSMV). She highlighted the importance of killing volunteer up to a month before drilling time to prevent WSMV.
“Anytime that we have hail or late termination, there’s always a concern about viable seeds being on the ground and creating an opportunity for volunteer,” said Jones. “We’re going to have to be pretty vigilant about spraying volunteer wheat, up to a month before drilling time.”
Chris Tanner, a farmer in Norton County, began harvesting about a week ago and is around 20 percent done.
“From January 1 up until this month, I have had less than 2 inches of rain all year,” said Tanner. “The plant integrity is not that good; the heads are breaking off, and with the straw being drought stressed, it is shattering and falling over.”
Tanner reports continuing to battle with the weather now that harvest has approached.
“It’s not harvest weather,” said Tanner. “It has cooled off, the humidity is high and there is a chance of rain again.”
Tanner Brown, a producer in Thomas County, reported completing harvest before the storms hit Saturday afternoon.
“We took our first load on June 17, and finished up all that we could harvest Saturday,” said Brown. “We had around 60 acres of irrigated wheat that was still too green to harvest that got rained on.”
Brown stated he had a wide range of protein levels, the lowest being 10.4 percent to the highest being 14.7 percent.
“Across the farm, we averaged 14 bushels an acre,” said Brown. “This year has been way below an average harvest year for us.”
The 2026 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 X, use #wheatharvest26. Tag us at @kansaswheat on Facebook, Instagram and X to share your harvest story and photos.
