Tour Explanation | Day One Report | Day Two Report | Final Estimate News Release

Following is a description of the orientation crop scouts encountered before embarking on the tour May 3, 2011

The 54nd Annual Hard Winter Wheat Tour coordinated by the Wheat Quality Council opened May 2 in Manhattan,  Kansas.

The Wheat Quality Council is founded on the idea of finding  improvement in soft red and hard red winter wheat varieties. Millers and  bakers use the council for application purposes and to gain feedback on  various aspects of the wheat varieties. Originally, the crop tour was a field  day event, used as a chance to take customers out in the fields and introduce  them to the growth cycle of wheat and the progress of the crop. It has now  evolved into the present-day estimations of how many bushels this year's  harvest will produce.

The three basic goals of the wheat tour are as follows:

• Provide interaction for all sectors of agribusiness,  accomplished through all members of the tour eating dinner together at the end of the day and the switching of participants who ride in the car on a  daily basis.  
• Define crop prospects of up to 90% of the wheat  areas in Kansas by using Kansas agricultural statistics based on the past  year's data.
• Provide general exposure to the state of Kansas.   

All  participants arrived and received car assignments for the next day's wheat  evaluation. Orientation was comprised of the introduction of coordinators  and all participants and a basic overview of what the crop tour is based on.   Participants were reminded that this tour is only a snapshot of what  is observed on these three days of the tour.

In testing Kansas and area wheat fields for yield evaluation, these are the major steps involved.

• Enter the field at representative area.   
• Count the number of stalks per foot in at least five  random locations and calculate an average number of stalks per foot for the  selected field.  
• Count all stalks, regardless of stage of formation.   
• Use  the formula given based on 2001-2010 Kansas wheat objective yield data to  estimate the number of heads.  
• Select the formula that represents the area of the  state where counts are being made. 
• Measure the distance in inches between the rows.   
• For  average weight per head use the average given for the region of the state  where observations are made.  
• Enter findings into the yield formula given.   
• Enter observations and calculation estimates onto  observation sheet.  
• Observations are just as important as factual data.  Other factors only you can observe.

According to Jim Shroyer, an Agronomist with Kansas State University and crop tour participant, the wheat observed on this year's wheat tour appears to be poor to very poor at this stage in crop development.  At this time, northwest Kansas has received 5.26 inches of rain since September or 62% of normal precipitation. Northwest central Kansas has received 4.24 inches of rain since September or 50% of normal precipitation, and southwest Kansas has received 3.71 inches of rain at this time, or 44% of normal precipitation. Shroyer is expecting an observation of wheat behind development further northwest in travel on the first day of the tour. Wheat at this point in time should be showing a flag leaf.

Wheat seeded in Kansas in the fall of 2010 for the 2011 crop totaled 8.8 million acres, up 400,000 acres from the 2010 planted crop, and the second lowest since 1957.  The USDA on Monday, May 2 estimated the Kansas wheat crop at 45% poor to very poor.

Participants were divided into groups of two to three people with 18 cars  assigned to six different routes with the intent of arriving in Colby, Kansas by  5:00 p.m. the next day.

[ Back to Top ]