Local harvest just about wrapped up

The wheat harvest in the Odessa area is about 90 percent complete, and as most people suspected when harvest began, the outcome has been rather dismal. Overall dryland yields were down by about 40 to 50 percent overall, according to Mark Cronrath at the Odessa Trading Company, even lower than the initial reports at the beginning of harvest. For the second year running, yields have been below average. On top of that, the dollar has been strong lately, which tends to depress wheat prices.

At the Odessa Union Warehouse, Pearson Burke said yields in the Odessa area ranged from the mid-teens to the...