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WHEAT
QUALITY COUNCIL The tour was conducted
from July 30 – August 2 in North Dakota plus parts of South Dakota and
Minnesota. (Tour Map) Over 50 people participated. The spring wheat fields
surveyed (316) avera.ged 34.9 bushels per acre.
The durum fields (86) averaged 28.3 bushels per acre.
The spring wheat potential is about 1.5 bushels below last
year. The durum potential
is about 1.5 bushels above the five-year tour average and about 1.7
bushels above last year. (Tour
Results) Except for the most
southern areas, scab pressure was very evident.
Many heads had scab on only a spikelet or two, and it is
impossible to know if that kind of pressure will get worse before
harvest. Other heads were
fully infected at the time of the tour.
Participants estimated scab in individual fields from 2 percent
to as high as 50 percent in some areas. The second problem with
the crop was lodging. Most
people had never seen lodging this severe.
Some fields were 90 percent flat when we viewed them.
This lodging will certainly affect the test weight and yield. It also has a greater potential for disease infestation
because it never gets dry. Harvesting
this severely lodged wheat will also be a real challenge. I believe we did the
best job we could have at the time of the tour.
I also believe this crop has a lot more downside potential than
upside. It is really sad to
see such a good crop downgraded because of too much moisture. Our results should not be viewed as being official. The North Dakota Agricultural Statistics Service will be giving monthly updates of the official data. |