Wichita ? Harvest reports from the first cornfields now being cut in eastern Kansas are on track with early projections for record production, but an industry leader doesn’t expect such bountiful yields elsewhere in the state.

On Tuesday, the Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service reported 6 percent of the state’s planted corn has been harvested for grain.

Jere White, executive director of the Kansas Corn Growers Assn., said Tuesday that the eastern third of the state may see a record corn production.

Farmers are reporting yields upward of 145 bushels per acre for dryland corn, with some getting yields as high as 175 bushels an acre off their dryland fields, he said.

“I tend to be pretty optimistic now, but I get negative vibes in the west-central and northwest areas,” White said. “They have been burned so much in the past.”

The agency rated corn conditions statewide on Tuesday as 22 percent excellent and 50 percent good. Another 19 percent was listed as fair. Just 7 percent was said to be poor, with 2 percent very poor.

Last month, the statistics service predicted the 2004 Kansas corn crop would just barely break the record set in 1999. The government forecast the state will cut 420.5 million bushels of corn, with yields statewide to average 145 bushels per acre.

That forecast will be updated Friday when the agency issues its September crop production report.

But farmers are already reporting some isolated, hail-damaged crops from frequent storms, particularly in northwest Kansas, White said.

“They seem to have a tough time catching a break from Mother Nature — even when she wants to give them breaks,” he said.

On Tuesday, KASS also reported conditions for other major crops in the state:

• The grain sorghum harvest has barely begun, with 2 percent of the state’s crop now harvested for grain. Sorghum condition was rated as 17 percent excellent, 49 percent good, 23 percent fair, 9 percent poor and 2 percent very poor.
• Soybean condition was rated as 19 percent excellent, 61 percent good, 16 percent fair, 3 percent poor and 1 percent very poor.
• About 3 percent of sunflowers have been harvested. Sunflower condition is rated 14 percent excellent, 49 percent good, 30 percent fair, 6 percent poor and 1 percent very poor.