Postcard From the Past: Grain Harvest

A headline in the Aug. 17, 1906 issue of The Sheridan Enterprise reads:

Ralph Denio talks to Enterprise of the Sheridan grain harvest.

It is followed by two subheads which proclaim:

Eleven thousand acres sown this season with a return of at least 350,000 bushels and Sheridan County farmers will reap from 20 to 100 percent of land investment this year.

The front page news item continues:

Mr. Ralph Denio, of the J.W. Denio Milling Company of Sheridan, talks to the Enterprise as follows:

The grain harvest of Sheridan County this year will cover about 11,000 acres, of which between 5,000 and 6,000 acres are in wheat; 4,000 or 5,000 acres in oats and the remainder in other small grains.

This year’s Sheridan County grain acreage is about 25 percent in excess of last year, with about the same ratio of increased grain yield per acre and quality of the grains themselves.

Last year, the grain crop of Sheridan County, all told, approximated 250,000 bushels, while this year it will probably reach 350,000 bushels – this increased yield being due alike to additional acreage, copious and timely spring rainfall and favorable later irrigation conditions.

Harvest values

This year’s wheat and oat crops will probably each command an initial price of one dollar per 100 pounds, which will mean a minimum harvest value for this year’s Sheridan County wheat and oat harvest of at least $200,000.

From $10 to $12

net per acre

In other words, the irrigated grain farming lands of Sheridan County this year, on an estimated average value of $50 per acre, will yield these fortunate farmers a 20 percent cash return on the present market value of the lands themselves, and doubtless, from 50 percent to 100 percent on original land investment.

Champion oat field

According to an article in the Sept. 14, 1911 issue of the Grand Encampment Herald:

Charles Terwilliger claims to have the champion oat field of Wyoming on his ranch a couple of miles east of Encampment, and all who have seen the crop admit his claim is well founded.

S.E. Phelps went out and took several photos of the field as it was being harvested last week, and these photos may be reproduced in the Herald soon.

It is a most remarkable grain exhibit and should capture some of the capital prizes if exhibited with the Wyoming exhibits at the Eastern land shows.