Wichita ? The Kansas Department of Agriculture lifted embargoes Thursday on winter wheat from two more counties after test results showed no detectable traces of a toxic fungicide applied too close to harvest.

The latest batch of test results clears affected farms in Jefferson and Ellis counties.

Testing continues on samples from farms in nine other northwest Kansas counties. Still embargoed pending test results are fields in Decatur, Gove, Logan, Phillips, Rawlins, Sheridan, Sherman, Thomas and Trego counties.

“We have a few more samples from northwest Kansas in the queue to be tested, and I’m hopeful results will be available in a day or two,” Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Adrian Polansky said in a news release. “In the meantime, embargoes will remain in place in those counties.”

Farmers in 18 counties improperly sprayed with the fungicide Quilt, which requires a 45-day waiting period between application and harvest. The embargo was lifted Wednesday on fields in seven south-central counties.

About 4,659 acres now remain under the embargo in northwest Kansas, the department said.

The 10 fields in Ellis County, for example, were treated as late as May 30, meaning farmers will have to wait until July 14 to harvest them.

State officials said Thursday that while they are not placing any restrictions on harvest outside of regions where embargoes are in place, they reminded producers that failing to abide by the preharvest intervals on the fungicide violates the state and federal law.

In a statement, Kansas Wheat blamed this season’s widespread fungicide use in part to the Easter freeze of 2007 that forced many farmers to abandon wheat fields. That reduced the amount of seed available from rust-resistant varieties.

The labels indicate application of Quilt at or just prior to the plant heading, but also mandate a 45-day waiting period before harvest. In Kansas, the time period between heading and harvesting is often less than 30 days.

Kansas Wheat said some research indicates fungicide levels on the wheat reach acceptable levels in less time than the label requires. The organization said it would work with fungicide manufacturers in the coming months to try to reach a solution on the label requirements.