After day two of the Hard Winter Wheat Quality Tour 2016, scouts had visited 606 stops and calculated an average yield of 48.2 bushels per acre, up from the 34.4 bushel per acre estimate in 2015.
The twenty vehicles traveled on six routes between Colby and Wichita on Wednesday. While they ran into increased disease pressure as they moved south and east, the crop looked better than last year. Southwest portions of the state showed some signs of fall drought stress, but with recent rains, the prospects for the crop have increased.
Most years on this route of the tour, the groups see little sign of moisture in the fields, but topsoil moisture was adequate this year, and some areas even had some water standing in the field. Many fields have been sprayed for stripe rust, and that has definitely made an impact on the crop. Today, scouts reported seeing more viral disease than fungal diseases, and overall, stands are good.
Mark Hodges, from Plains Grains, Inc., reported that estimated yields for Oklahoma are 33.6 bushels per acre, with 3.82 million acres harvested resulting in production of 128.5 million bushels for the state, making it an above average crop.
On Thursday, scouts will continue the tour with stops on the way between Wichita and Manhattan. A wrap-up meeting will be held in Manhattan, where overall yield and production estimates of the Kansas crop will be announced. To follow along with tour participants, follow #wheattour16 on Twitter.