An Auglaize County farmer harvests his wheat crop Thursday afternoon while working in a field along Industrial Drive, in Wapakoneta. Staff photo/Krista Hayes

By MATT NICHOLS
Staff Writer
A cooler than average June hampered the early corn growing season, but for those with golden wheat flowing through their fields, the cooler temperatures were a blessing.
Area farmers say the below average temperatures were just what their lagging fields needed, and as wheat farmers across the region mount their tractors to begin harvesting their crop, optimism is high.
Auglaize County farmer Aaron Houser said his 400 acres of winter wheat in northwest Auglaize County were looking grim more than a month ago, but he said things have turned completely around.
“It’s been a funny year because they didn’t look so good coming out in the winter,” Houser said. “It was slow to come up and we didn’t get the moisture to build good roots, but we must have had the weather we needed here of late because it thickened right up.”