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2003
Hard Spring Wheat and Durum Crop Tour
July 28 - 31, 2003
Summary by
Ben Handcock
The tour was conducted from July 28 – 31 in
North Dakota plus parts of South Dakota and Minnesota. (Tour Map)
Thirty-eight people participated.
The spring wheat fields surveyed (308) averaged 37.6 bushels per acre. The
durum fields (71) averaged 28.6 bushels per acre. The spring wheat
potential is about five and one half bushels above last year and four
bushels above the tour 5-year average. The durum potential is about three
bushels above last year and two and one half bushels above the tour 5-year
average. (Tour Results)
The average for all spring and durum fields was 35.9 compared to the
5-year tour average of 31.6.
Day one covered the south half of the state with yields ranging from a
high of 64 bushels per acre in the valley to a low of 11 bushels in the
far west.
Day two covered the northwest and north central parts of the state with a
high yield of 76 bushels per acre and a low of eight bushels per acre.
Day three covered the northeast and north central area with a high yield
of 80 bushels per acre and a low of 13.
I would expect the quality of this crop to be very good. The plumpness of
the kernels would indicate a high test weight potential. Protein content
is impossible to estimate until harvest, but higher than average yields
can often result in slightly lower protein.
The most significant observations of the crop would likely be the low to
complete absence of scab in most areas, plus the extreme differences in
maturity of fields in the same area.
It is obvious that some wheat was planted early, rains came, and some
wheat was planted three to four weeks later. This will cause some
headaches for harvest crews as they will have to wait for the second
planting of wheat to ripen.
The tour does not estimate abandoned acres, but I would expect abandonment
to be very low this year.
Our results should not be viewed as being official. The North Dakota
Agricultural Statistics Service will be giving monthly updates of the
official data.
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