The eyes of the wheat world will be on Kansas this week, as the annual Wheat Quality Council Hard Winter Wheat Quality Tour spreads throughout the Wheat State.
Larry Dreiling, High Plains Journal’s senior field editor and Wheat Tour veteran, will participate in this year’s event, posting his findings throughout the day on Twitter (@ldreiling) and on our website, www.HPJ.com.
What we’ve seen
Anecdotally, what our staff has seen in wheat fields is variable. A few weeks after the freeze, farmers are seeing signs of freeze damage, exacerbated by the drought conditions.
It will be interesting to see what tour participants find in the wheat fields. From the time of planting, the wheat crop in Kansas and surrounding states has had a tough go. From drought, to wind, to late freeze, wheat farmers have dealt with a lot of obstacles. The weekly Crop Report from USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service indicates that, as of April 22, winter wheat condition rated 16 percent very poor, 33 percent poor, 39 percent fair, 11 percent good and 1 percent excellent.
The tour, sponsored by the Wheat Quality Council, brings in participants from around the world who are tied to the wheat industry, but may not have ever stood in fields. These individuals are able to interact with Kansas farmers, network with their peers, learn more about wheat production and assesses the condition and yield potential of the hard winter wheat crop across the state of Kansas.
Over the three-day tour, they will canvass the state’s wheat crop from Manhattan to Colby to Wichita and back again. Along the way, they will stop every 15 miles or so to estimate yields in wheat fields on their routes. Every car will carry at least one Wheat Tour veteran who is familiar with not only the route, but basic agronomy and the yield estimate formula. This allows participants to ask questions about the wheat that they are seeing, as well as diseases, growing conditions, field observations and more.
Many foreign buyers of Kansas wheat will participate, giving those folks a chance to see the wheat that they trade, mill, bake and ship growing in the Kansas fields.
While wheat is a global commodity and the stockpiles of this crop are ample, wheat grown in the High Plains has a reputation for consistent supplies of high quality wheat. The world will be watching Kansas next week.
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Bill Spiegel can be reached at 785-587-7796 or [email protected].
