BELLE PLAINE, Kan. (AP) - Early loads of winter wheat coming into southern Kansas grain elevators show the spring freeze damage may not have been as bad as feared.

At the Belle Plaine Co-op, elevator manager Pete Nulik said Thursday that he has taken in about 75,000 bushels of wheat so far with test weights averaging about 57 pounds per bushel. The industry standard for its top-rated wheat is 60 pounds per bushel or better.

"I am pleasantly surprised," Nulik said. "I figured the test weights would be pretty low."

Farmers are first harvesting the more mature wheat that would have been most vulnerable when the freeze hit. Those kernels are more shriveled or smaller than normal, but still not as bad as many had feared.

"I think it is going to get better as we progress," Nulik said. "I think the better wheat is still to come."

Yields likely will be down, but the industry is expecting a Kansas crop that is normal or just under normal in size.

Some bushels have been lost due to violent storms that brought hail and tornadoes to parts of the state, said Tom Tunnell, executive director of the Kansas Grain and Feed Association. Fields have been damaged in Sublette, around Dodge City and parts of north central Kansas, but the full scope of the crop loss is unknown.

"We anticipate a really good harvest as far as yield, although we certainly lost a lot of bushels from the inclement weather we experienced in the last week or 10 days," Tunnell said.

Cutting remains sporadic but has begun in Sumner County, the state's largest wheat producing region. Early cutting also has begun as far north as Salina. The OK Co-op Grain Co. in Kiowa has started taking in loads with test weights averaging 59 bushels per acre.

"We are cautiously optimistic we are gong to have a good crop, and we are hoping this weather doesn't prolong harvest too much," Tunnell said.