2013 Harvest Report: Montana, Colorado, Nebraska and Dakotas Update

Nick Briese, Case IH Combine Product Specialist for Montana, Colorado, Wyoming, the Dakotas and Nebraska, provides this week’s harvest report. Briese grew up on a Montana farm where his family still grows spring and winter wheat while running only Case IH equipment. Briese has been with Case IH for three years, and has spent two of them as a combine specialist.

In Montana, less than 10 percent of spring wheat is left to cut, and the crop is looking very good. South Dakota is done harvesting spring wheat and North Dakota farmers only have 5 percent left to harvest.

The latest USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service’s crop progress report says 12 percent of corn and 11 percent of soybeans have been harvested so far.

Nebraska farmers are harvesting soybeans. However, not a lot of producers are harvesting corn yet, as the moisture is just now starting to come down to where they can think about getting in the field.

Farmers in the upper West are harvesting a good crop of spring and winter wheat.

Growers in much of my territory have been fighting moisture all year. In North Dakota, that was one of the biggest challenges this growing season. Farmers there were fighting the moisture to get crops planted, and now they’re fighting it again to get the harvest in. Some producers weren’t able to get all of their fields planted because it was so wet.

I had a few customers in Colorado who were affected by the flooding. There were several strong downpours that resulted in their irrigation ditches being filled with sand and gravel, which they’ll have to dig out. Some growers’ fields also were washed out.

For those farmers who have been able to get in the fields, Case IH Axial-Flow® combines have been running very well. A lot of producers are happy with the extra storage and increased comfort in the cab. They like that the seat is scooted back and the window is farther away so they can stretch out. The new pivoting grain spout also has been a big hit with its grain-saving features.

Overall, if growers were able to get the crop planted and weren’t drowned out, crops look pretty good — corn, soybeans and wheat.