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Wheat tour predicts 14 percent bump in yield from 2024

The U.S. is on track to produce its largest hard red winter wheat crop since 2021, driven by strong yields in key wheat-growing states.

Scouts on the three-day hard red winter wheat tour estimated the Kansas wheat crop at 53 bushels per acre and production at 338.5 million bushels. USDA NASS predicted the crop to be slightly higher at 345 million bushels, with a yield of 50 bushels per acre.

Dave Green with the Wheat Quality Council says the crop benefited from timely rains in parts of the state that typically miss out on moisture. “The west central and the southwest part of Kanas, and all across northern Oklahoma looked better than normal.”

He tells Brownfield other areas that normally receive rain didn’t this year. “The northern part of Kansas, the north central and northwest was kind of below what we had anticipated. It was excessively dry. The wheat didn’t have the tiller counts and head size that we would have normally seen.”

Green says wheat streak mosaic virus was present, but it likely already impacted yield potential.

Nearly 450 fields mostly in Kansas, but some in Nebraska and Oklahoma were evaluated.

Dave Green: