Wheat harvest winds down in Ritzville

RITZVILLE – Combines are finding their end-of-season parking spots as harvest winds down in the area.

"Harvest is pretty much over around Ritzville" said Stacy Hunt, Grain Division Manager at Ritzville Warehouse Co.

Harvest started early due to little or no rainfall in the spring, and extreme heat in early summer, he said.

A year ago, the 2020 wheat harvest was considered above-average. But 2021 is down 40-50% over the previous year, he said.

Regarding quality of the crop, Hunt said, "We have seen a wide range of protein in soft white."

Conditions during the growing season including precipitat...