Area wheat farmers have nearly doubled the yield of last year’s crop, which suffered because of the drought.

“It has been excellent quality – the best we’ve had in a long, long time,” said Tim Tucker, who, along with his father and sons, grows about 700 acres of wheat in the Rich Pond and Woodburn areas. “We are yielding 90 to 100 bushels an acre. We are tickled to death.”

Last year the average yield for Warren County farmers was 51 bushels an acre for the 14,800 acres planted with the crop, according to the Kentucky Agricultural Statistics Service. Only 6,700 of those acres were harvested. Many farmers last year rolled their wheat for hay because of the low yields.

Statewide the average was 49 bushels an acre for the 440,000 acres planted, 250,000 of which were harvested. Nearby Logan County was one of the top wheat-producing counties in the state with 37,500 acres planted (18,500 harvested), which yielded an average of 49 bushes an acre or a total of 906,500 bushels.

By Thursday, the South Union Grain Elevator had taken in more than 727,000 bushels of wheat from farmers in Warren, Barren, Logan and Simpson counties, according to manager Chris Timmons.

Timmons said farmers have told him their yields have averaged between 80 and 90 bushels an acre, with some a little more than 100. Half of that grain will end up on barges in Clarksville, Tenn., eventually finding its way into the Gulf of Mexico, Timmons said. The other half will go to area mills to make flour and other items.

Because Barren County crops will be running a little behind the others, Timmons estimates that the harvest season is about halfway over for that area.

Tucker expects to finish his harvest this weekend and Simpson County farmer Chris Kummer finished his early last week.

Kummer, who has about 500 acres in wheat, said his crop yielded 80 to 85 bushels an acre, considerably better than last year.

“It’s right in line with my expectations,” he said.

Like many farmers, Kummer markets his crop in a variety of ways, including selling by contract and at market price to the grain elevators. Last week, the crop was near $7 a bushel.

That price pleases farmers who say input costs, such as fuel and fertilizer, have increased dramatically over the last few years.

“I paid $250 a ton for fertilizer three years ago and it is now over $1,000,” said Kummer, who plans to stay in farming despite rising costs.

“Of course you are going to see farms consolidate,” he said. “As older farmers get out of it, younger farmers will take over their land.”

Kummer said he finished his wheat harvest fairly quickly so he could get soybeans planted on the same acreage.

Tucker is doing the same thing, but is hoping that the rain expected over the weekend comes.

“The ground is so hard, the planter is not going in the ground,” Tucker said.

The corn crop also is in need of rain, according to Woodburn farmer Joe Chapman.