The National Wheat Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to encourage wheat research, education and outreach among the grower community. In 2015, they announced the first National Wheat Yield Contest (NWYC), which supports this mission in the fields. The NWYC is the embodiment of the foundation’s goal, bringing together shared knowledge and encouraging new and experiential concepts among the wheat grower community.
WestBred Wheat is honored to have 40 NWYC winners this year, which includes 11 National and 29 State winners. While we had several varieties win with multiple growers, our top two winning varieties were WB4792 for 10 growers and WB9590 for nine growers.
Dallas Diesen — Diesen Farms in Wannaska, Minnesota
Dallas Diesen with Diesen Farms in Wannaska, Minnesota, has been growing WestBred wheat for approximately six years. He has experienced great success with WB9590 over the years, praising its quality, strong straw strength and top-yielding variety on his farm.
Working in the fields with his brothers Byron and Carter, Dallas shared that their southern fields received less than 2 inches of rain and really suffered this year. However, despite the hot and dry northwest Minnesota summer that affected their northern fields, they were lucky enough to experience some rain showers at the end of the season and welcomed very good yields.
Dallas always tries to learn something new from each growing season, be it from a success or a failure. With a little help from WestBred Technical Product Manager Grant Mehring, Dallas was able to submit his WB9590 entry for the 2021 NWYC with a final yield of 114.81 Bu/A.
Congratulations, Dallas, on your 1st Place National High Yield win in the Spring Wheat - Dryland category.
Scott, Jerry, Greg and Mark Messer of Messer Beaver Creek, GP
Greg Messer with Messer Beaver Creek, GP in Richardton, North Dakota, has been growing WestBred wheat for approximately five years. WB9590 has consistently performed above the mean at their operation, so Greg wasn’t surprised when it excelled despite the difficult growing season in North Dakota.
Farming is a family operation at Messer Beaver Creek, GP. Greg, accompanied by his brothers Jerry, Scott and Mark, has a very diverse crop rotation consisting of peas, wheat, malting barley, canola, corn and soybeans. They also run a cow-calf and feedlot operation. Greg’s son Jadon works on the farm as well, while his two other sons, Travis and Josh, are agronomists who assist with developing new methods to be efficient and effective with fertility and precision agronomic tools.
North Dakota suffered one of the worst droughts in recent history, causing major challenges with getting seed-to-soil contact this spring. Once the rain did fall in late May, it dropped over 5 inches in less than 24 hours, further affecting Greg’s entire operation.
Despite the difficult season Greg experienced this year, he still achieved success by learning to adapt and shift as challenges arose. He trusted his local seed dealers, Todd and Austin Kautzmann at Mott Grain and Agronomy, when selecting seed from their high-quality establishment to start the season with the right genetics. Greg also listened to his equipment when his drills were unable to maintain ground contact. He waited for moisture, which led to a later than normal planting date but ultimately resulted in a successful harvest.
Congratulations, Greg, on your 1st Place National Percentage Increase win in the Spring Wheat - Dryland category.
The Wilcox Family — Keith Wilcox & Sons in Rexburg, Idaho
Terry Wilcox with Keith Wilcox & Sons in Rexburg, Idaho, has grown WestBred wheat varieties for over 15 years. Terry enjoys the consistent quality and reliable high yields of WB9668, his NWYC winning variety.
Reflecting on the beauty and productivity of his land, Terry did express some challenges with the dry heat last summer. While working hard to keep the irrigation system running, the operation quickly experienced another challenge from the smoke drifts coming from California and Oregon wildfires. Despite these hurdles from Mother Nature, Terry is grateful for high yields this season.
Terry has learned that the best advice in farming is proper planning with enough flexibility to adjust to the ever-changing challenges that crops bring.
Congratulations, Terry, on your 2nd Place State win in the Spring Wheat - Irrigated category.
WestBred is proud to support the National Wheat Foundation and the National Wheat Yield Contest as they strive to unite growers and cultivate shared learnings from the field. Congratulations to all of our WestBred NWYC winners!