DALTON - As Ted Adam broke for lunch earlier this week, he said he was pleased with this year's wheat harvest.

Adam said he's fortunate that his fields east of here avoided hail damage. While his fields avoided the brunt of the damage, some of his 400 acres of wheat was damaged but overall he said his fields had good test weights and pretty fair yields.

The wheat harvest began in the state around July 1, which is about a week and a half behind last year. It was estimated that 1.7 million acres would be harvested, about 13 percent less than last year.

Most of the dryland fields throughout Cheyenne County, which historically has been the state's best wheat producing county, had been cut, especially in the western portion of the county. Adam said that some areas east of Dalton had received some heavy rains that slowed the harvest.

Not far from where Adam was cutting wheat, a field belonging to Terry Deaver was being cut. Nick Jones said crews began cutting late last week and that the harvest appeared to be later this year because some fields were wet due to rain, and that some fields were still a little green.

"We started a lot later than I thought we would," said Jones.

Andrew Kabes, a merchandiser with Scoular Company, a grain storage and selling facility north of Sidney, estimated that 80 percent of the dryland harvest was complete but only 40 percent of irrigated wheat had been harvested.

"It (irrigated wheat) is usually a week behind the dryland," he said. "But what we've seen looks good. The weights and quality has been really good."

With wheat prices hovering around the $7 mark, Kabes said some farmers might sell crops quickly while others might take more time to access their needs.

"I would guess that a of people would be selling early this year because a lot of them missed selling last year when there was $8 and $9 wheat."

Bushels per acre varied across the Panhandle, said Kabes, as farmers in Sidney and close to the Colorado border were bringing in 35-40 bushels per acre, areas north of Sidney were seeing 45-50 and areas around Dalton and Gurley were seeing 55-60 bushels per acre. He said some irrigated fields around Bridgeport were reporting 80 to 90 bushels per acre.

While many areas avoided hail this harvest, some areas weren't so lucky, including areas in northeast Cheyenne County along with fields near Broadwater and Chappell.

Kabes said most farmers were cutting their own fields or teaming up with neighbors, although he said he had seen between 10 and 15 custom crews in the area.

Despite a decent harvest, the Nebraska Field Office of USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service reported earlier this month that Nebraska's winter wheat crop was forecast at 71.4 million bushels, down 10 percent from last month's forecast and 15 percent below last year's crop.

The production decline is due to a combination of fewer acres and smaller yields. Average yields were forecast at 42 bushels per acre, down 1 bushel from last month and last year.