MIKE ENSMINGER, in the combine, and Brandon Durbin, grain cart driver, cut a wheat field south of Haxtun on Monday morning near the Gary Koch farm. Many local farmers spent the hot, Fourth of July weekend in the field cutting wheat.

According to Scott Kirkwood at CHS Grainland, Mike Salyards brought in Haxtun's first load of wheat on June 29. Fleming's first load was from Lambert Farms, Christopher Land on July 2. Kirkwood expects Haxtun and Fleming locations to bring in about 50 percent of a typical crop due to recent wind and hail storms that have caused extensive damage in the area over the past few weeks. Storms have completely wiped out the New Haven elevator and any crop in that area.

As of Monday morning, July 6, the Haxtun elevator has taken in about 130,000 bushels of wheat; as a company, CHS has taken close to 1.3 million bushels. Kirkwood said the further east you go, the better the crop. The average test weight for the Haxtun area is 58 pounds with a 25 to 35 yield.