Golden piles are reaching skyward from the ground throughout Williams County and much of northwestern North Dakota as area small grain producers struggle to house what appears to be a record harvest this fall.

Longtime Williams County Extension agent Warren Froelich can't remember the last time he's seen grain piled on the ground across the county landscape like he is this year.

"I've seen grain sitting on the ground, but not to this extent," he said. "It's the result of a record-setting crop I think."

Past years has seen country produces plant about 400,000 acres of wheat planted, he said.

"Now we even have more wheat acres, plus we have about 85,000 acres of peas and lentils growing in Williams County," Froelich said. The peas and lentils also had very good yields this fall, which has contributed to the storage issue for area producers.

"We knew it going in we didn't have storage for all of this crop if it did get off and it did get off. It wasn't unexpected," Froelich said.

Some may find it somewhat surprising when he says there typically is very little damage to grain stored on the ground.

"The birds and so forth and some of the wildlife may get at it and benefit from it," he said. "Yes, there is going to be some loss, but it is really surprisingly minimal if you think about it."

Putting the grain on a high spot or on some sandy soil helps deal with moisture issues, he said.

He thinks by and large, the county's small grain harvest is finally finished after being delayed due to a wet planting season and cool growing season.

The cool growing season, however, helped to produce the great yields.

Those yields are offset by protein qualities that are lower than normal.

"We were fortunate enough to get most of it done before we got that rainy spell and now this cold spell," Froelich said of the small grain harvest. "I think as we move north into Divide County, there is still a lot of crop to be harvested."

The area isn't typically one where a lot of late-season row crops like sunflowers and corn are planted. Froelich said some county producers gave sunflowers a shot in the mid-1980s.

"Sunflowers require a lot of moisture and we just don't get consistent moisture," he said.