Hard Spring Wheat Quality Tour 2011

2011 Wheat Quality Council Hard Spring Wheat & Durum Tour Completed
Summary by Ben Handcock, Executive Vice President

The Wheat Quality Council hard spring and durum tour was conducted July 25-28 in North Dakota plus parts of South Dakota and Minnesota. (Tour Map) There were 72 participants this year, and 57 of them were first-timers on this tour.

The 369 spring wheat fields surveyed averaged 41.5 bushels per acre, down from 46 bushels last year. The 31 durum fields averaged 31 bushels, down from 38.4 bushels last year. We evaluated 19 hard winter fields and they averaged 47 bushels, down from 48.4 one year ago 

The average for all 419 field stops was 41.1 bushels per acre compared to 45.2 last year and the five year average of 38.9 bushels. (Tour Results)

Day One covered the southern half of North Dakota, southwestern Minnesota and northeast/north central South Dakota. Yields were good on all routes again this year.  The highest yielding field was estimated at 81 bushels and the lowest was 15, with a day one average of 39.3 bushels versus last year at 42.7 bushels. Tour members going into the far western areas reported slightly lower yields than elsewhere. 

Day Two covered northwest and north central North Dakota. We found fewer durum fields in the far northwest this year. We had 27 durum stops compared to 34 a year ago. The yields were good again as we moved along the routes. We had a high for the day of 79 bushels, a low of 16 with a day two average of 41.3 bushels. Last year these routes averaged 44.6 bushels.

Day Three concluded the tour by covering north central/north east North Dakota and north west/west central Minnesota. We had a huge contingent visiting the ND Mill so fewer stops were made. As is usually the case, this was the highest yielding area of the tour. The day three average was estimated at 45.2 bushels, compared to 50.2 one year ago. Our high was 82.6 and our low was 5 bushels per acre.

My personal observations: I thought this was a pretty good wheat crop. It is not the record breaker of the last two years, but is the THIRD highest yield we have ever predicted. The biggest problem is the lack of planted acres due to the unusually heavy snow pack and the unbelievably wet spring. The tour was not equipped to try to determine how much prevented plant there was, but it was a lot.  It seemed particularly bad in the northwest and is sure to have a major impact on the amount and the price of durum.

The wheat appeared to be good, but late. We have to hope for a nice long fall harvest season to get this entire crop in.  There were leaf diseases almost everywhere, but where they were the most severe, the kernels were already filled. There was also scab in almost every field I saw, but not very severe any place. The newer scab resistant varieties are really helping this problem in my opinion. There was usually just one infected spikelet per head and it was usually empty. I believe most producers are also using fungicide to prevent more losses.

I’m sure the producers applied the correct amount of nitrogen for their yield projections, but the wetness of the spring and summer may have leeched it down beyond the root zone in some cases. The crop will likely need a little stress at some point in order to reach the desired protein levels, but 100 degree days at this point would devastate this crop.

This will be an above average crop, and at today’s prices should work out well for the producers who got it planted.

Once again our results are not official.  The North Dakota Ag Statistics Service will publish official results on August 11.  Watch for them and see how we compare.  We have been very close for the past ten years or so.  We are not as scientific as they are, we simply overwhelm them with the number of fields we visit, and our formula provided by NDSU has been working very well.

Thanks to all of you who came, drove cars or helped in any way to make this tour a success. The newcomers have told me they learned a great deal, had a lot of fun and would love to do it again.  We look forward to 2012.

Please mark the Wheat Quality Council 2012 Annual Meeting dates on your calendar.  It should be interesting evaluating all the new wheat lines grown under these conditions.  The dates are February 14-16 at the Embassy Suites in Kansas City.