Ben Handcock from the Wheat Quality Council told the Northern Ag Network late Tuesday that results from the first day of the 2011 Hard Red Spring Wheat and Durum Tour were worse than last year but better than expected.
After scouts went through 169 fields in southwest North Dakota and the northern tier of South Dakota, they came up with an average yield of 39.3 bushels/acre. Going through those same areas last year gave them an average of 42.7. Ben said that while some fields are still behind schedule, warm weather is bringing things up to normal in a hurry especially on the south edge of what they toured. While he added that disease pressure was evident in places, he said that it wasn’t severe.
The second day of the tour is Wednesday. The scouts will tour more of North Dakota and even venture into Minnesota before meeting up to compare their results. The finalized version of those will come out Thursday afternoon.
© Northern Ag Network 2011
Haylie Shipp
