Wichita ? Whitecloud farmer Ken McCauley was in his fields Wednesday, picking corn and giving thanks he has a crop to harvest in a state plagued by drought.

“Five miles from where we are harvesting 140-bushel corn there is a field that made five bushels an acre — that is how close it is. To the east of here that is that dry — it goes into Missouri from here,” he said in a telephone interview from his combine. “That is how lucky we were.”

Farmers have harvested about 13 percent of the Kansas corn crop for grain, the Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service reported Tuesday.

So far, most of the cutting has been in the far eastern part of the state, from the Oklahoma to Nebraska state lines, said Jere White, executive director of the Kansas Corn Growers Assn. The first fields cut hold dryland corn in areas where the drought was prevalent.

“From everything I have heard, it has been very sketchy — all over the board — everything from decent quality to lighter test weights,” White said. “It is the worst of the crop that is being harvested up front simply because that tends to be the part that dries down the fastest.”

McCauley started cutting his 1,800 dryland acres about a week and a half ago. He has been getting a little below 140 bushels an acre. He figured the drought probably cut 40 to 50 bushels an acre off his yields.

He credits 20 years of no-till farming for helping conserve the little rain his fields got this year. His fields, planted early in April, also were more mature by the time the hot temperatures and dry weather hit.

“I really am cautious saying how good things are,” McCauley said. “It is true, but you really make people feel bad and mad.”