JETMORE, Kan. (RFD News) — Participants in the annual Hard Red Winter Wheat Tour are making their way across Kansas this week, scouting fields and evaluating crop conditions ahead of harvest. The annual tour gives producers and industry leaders a chance to follow the grain chain from the field to the marketplace while evaluating this year’s wheat crop.
Dr. Sean Finnie with the Wheat Quality Council joined us on Wednesday’s Market Day Report with another update from the road.
Finnie said yield estimates are currently running just above USDA projections, with tour participants averaging around 38 bushels per acre compared to USDA’s estimate of near 37 bushels per acre. He says the group made 187 stops across the state yesterday and expected a similar number as the tour traveled from Colby to Wichita.
Finnie added that many of the same challenges continue showing up across the region, including drought conditions and disease pressure. He also discussed what abandonment numbers could look like this season.
“I know the USDA put a number of 17 percent for this year. I believe they’re assuming we will have numbers similar to 2023,” Finnie explained. “I have no good idea of what to expect. It really depends on the next few weeks as we get closer to harvest. I hope that the abandonment numbers aren’t that high. I would like to see wheat supplies as high as possible, but at the same time, the farmer has to make the best decision for their family and their business.”
Finnie added that while the tour has seen some irrigated wheat fields, much of what participants are evaluating remains dryland country.
