Northern Wheat Quality Tour Predicts Big Wheat Crops

The Wheat Quality Council held its annual four-day Hard Spring and Durum Quality Tour last week. Representatives from domestic milling companies, domestic baking companies, wheat trade associations, hedge funds, media groups, USDA, and wheat trading companies descended on North Dakota to gauge the quality of the region’s wheat crops this year. The participants travelled in groups, surveying 321 hard red spring (HRS), 41 durum, and eight hard red winter (HRW) fields across North Dakota, northern South Dakota, and western Minnesota.  

The HRS harvest should start in two waves because of delayed planting in western growing regions, with initial cuttings starting in one to two weeks, although the Red River Farm Network reported some test cutting last week. Participants estimated an overall HRS yield of 46.0 bushels per acre (3.1 metric tons per hectare), down only slightly from last year’s estimate of 46.2 bushels per acre. Conditions have been good throughout the growing season. Persistently cool temperatures raise concerns over protein, with a consensus that the crop has a good chance for better protein levels than last year though likely still below average. Speaking to Red River Farm Network on the tour, North Dakota Wheat Commission Marketing Specialist Erica Olson reported that everyone is anxious to learn the protein content of this crop. “We’ve heard some initial reports,” she said, “but we’ll have to wait until we get things rolling a little more.”    

The northern durum crop should be more plentiful this year with durum appearing again in eastern areas after several years. This is largely due to a more competitive government loan rate offered for Durum this year. The tour group estimated an overall durum yield of 38.4 bushels per acre (2.6 MT per hectare), slightly higher than last year’s 36.2 bushels per acre. Producers should start harvesting durum in three to four weeks.  

The tour participants experienced North Dakota’s variable weather conditions first hand when a tornado warning forced them out of their Fargo hotel rooms to a safe area. The tornado never arrived and sleep was the only thing they lost. The tour scouts did see many eastern fields with hail and wind damage, and isolated disease and pest damage, but the overall yield impact should be minimal. By the end of the tour, the group concluded that this year’s HRS and durum crops should be bin busters and show excellent quality.  

by Shawn Campbell, USW Assistant West Coast Office Director

Source : U.S.Wheat Association