Wheat Contest Requires Productive Varieties, Plentiful Inputs and Luck
April 28, 2019
A bin-busting yield of 97.07 bushels per acre was North Dakota’s irrigated spring wheat winner in the 2018 National Wheat Yield Contest.
Entered by Monte Leidenix of Burleigh County, the yield was also fourth best in the entire nation based on the percent increase by which the yield exceeded the most recent five-year USDA county average.
This leads to a favorite question of farmers everywhere. How did he do it?
For 2018, Monte talked with his DEKALB corn rep Troy Sayler, who had taken a job promotion to WestBred’s wheat commercial manager. Sayler thought it was a great idea for Monte to enter the irrigated wheat contest and recommended a high yielding variety – WestBred WB9479.
It turned out that WestBred had quite a year at the 2018 National Wheat Yield Contest. WestBred varieties were grown for 15 of the 21 yield winners.
“The primary reason we’re doing so well is we have an intense wheat breeding program that kicks out superior, high-yielding varieties,” said Grant Mehring, WestBred technical product manager for North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota.
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