By ROWENA PLETT

Staff writer

Alan and Neil Hett of Marion already had harvested 900 acres of wheat when they started on a 70-acre field Tuesday in river bottom north of Marion.

Their harvest began several weeks ago, before the grain was dry, because it is stored in bins on the farm and can be air-dried before being sold. It averaged 45 bushels per acre and had a full test weight of 60 pounds.

“It was better than I thought it would be,” Alan said.

On Tuesday, both brothers were driving John Deere S670 combines with 350-bushel bins and 35-foot headers. Glenn Hett pulled a grain trailer alongside the beasts to allow them to unload on the go when their bins were full.

Mark Penner was their truck driver. He unloaded the grain into large, 30,000 bushel bins.

Alan’s son, Caleb, normally helps, too, but was planting beans as a second crop at another location.

Alan estimated a yield of 65 bushels per acre for this field. The Hetts put a lot into it, starting with phosphate and potash at planting, followed later by two applications of nitrogen and micro-nutrients, using their own sprayer.

They are happy about the good stand of corn they have so far and are hoping for a good fall harvest.