Tanner Ehmke, AgWeb
(Ellendale, N. D.) - Spring Wheat yields in Southwest Minnesota and Southeast North Dakota are estimated to be lower than last year, according to crop scouts on the Wheat Quality Council‘s Hard Spring Wheat and Durum Tour.
Yield estimates for spring wheat fields expected in the Red River Valley average 43 bu./acre, based on a sampling of eight fields in six counties in Minnesota and North Dakota. The average is down from 49.1 bu./acre on the same leg of the tour last year, but above the five-year average of 38.1 bu./acre in the same region.
Winter wheat yields averaged 39.5 bu./acre on three fields. No Durum fields were inspected.
Tour participants attributed the drop in spring wheat yields to the heat and dryness that has affected the region.
“In the eastern areas of North Dakota and around Minnesota, the yields will be better than last year,” says Erica Peterson, marketing specialist for the North Dakota Wheat Commission. “Last year the wheat in that area didn’t do very well because it was very wet.”
Little disease pressure or insect infestation was noted on the first day of the tour, and hail damage caused by recent storms is regarded as moderate.
The tour will convene this evening in Mandan, N.D., to report samples taken from 11 different routes, spanning across North Dakota, Southwest Minnesota and northern South Dakota. A yield estimate for the entire inspected region will also be reported.
Wednesday, the tour will examine the western and northern regions of North Dakota and the eastern portions of Montana and will convene in Devil’s Lake, N.D.
You can e-mail Tanner Ehmke at tehmke@farmjournal.com.
