About 67 people from 21 U.S. states and six countries, traveled in 17 cars on six routes between Manhattan and Colby, Kan., Tuesday, stopping at wheat fields every 15-20 miles along the routes, as part of the Wheat Quality Council’s 67th Annual Hard Winter Wheat Evaluation Tour.
These tour participants included flour millers and industry professionals from domestic and international mills. U.S. Wheat Associates sponsored six participants who work in flour mills in Central and South America. These grain buyers, flour millers and quality managers were from Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica and Venezuela. Several had the opportunity to meet and ask questions of a farmer while evaluating a field and even sit in a combine and ride in equipment.
More than half of the attendees were first-time participants. They were shown how to take yield measurements from tour alumni, using the formula provided by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). This formula is based on 2015-2024 Kansas wheat objective yield data. Farmers can calculate their own field estimates using the same formula with instructions at kswheat.com.
Every tour participant makes yield calculations at each stop based on three to four different area samplings per field. These individual estimates are averaged with the rest of their route mates and eventually added to a formula that produces a final yield estimate for the areas along the routes. While yields tend to be the spotlight of the Wheat Quality Tour, the real benefit is the ability to network among the ‘grain chain.’ This tour gives Kansas farmers the chance to interact with and influence their customers around the globe, on the tour, as well as at the #wheattour25 hashtag.
Tuesday’s cars of wheat tour scouts made 196 stops at wheat fields across north central, central and northwest Kansas, and into southern counties in Nebraska. They met Tuesday evening at Frahm Farmland in Colby, where they discussed what they had seen during the day and heard from an Extension expert panel including Romulo Lollato, Lucas Haag and Jeannie Falk-Jones. Most of the participants reported seeing the Wheat Streak Mosaic Virus complex and drought conditions.
The calculated yield is based on what scouts saw at this point in time. A lot can happen between now and harvest. The calculated yield from all cars was 50.5 bushels per acre, however the northern routes were well below this average, while the southern routes had a higher average. Day 2 of the tour will travel through southwest and south central Kansas.
Statewide, based on May 1 conditions, Kansas' 2025 winter wheat crop is forecast at 345 million bushels, according to NASS. Average yield is forecast at 50 bushels per acre. Acreage to be harvested for grain is estimated at 6.9 million acres.
For the week ending May 11, 2025, Kansas winter wheat condition rated 7% very poor, 15% poor, 30% fair, 42% good and 6% excellent. Kansas winter wheat jointed was 92%, near 96% last year and 90% for the five-year average. Headed was 71%, near 70% last year, and well ahead of 47% average.
In addition to Kansas reports, scouts from Nebraska and Colorado met the group in Colby to give reports from their states.
Royce Schaneman from Nebraska Wheat Board reported that the Nebraska crop is estimated at 34 million bushels. Yield is estimated at 40 bushels per acre.
A report from Colorado estimated the crop at 65 million bushels, based on a yield of 35 bushels per acre and 2.1 million acres planted.
These estimates are for this year’s hard winter wheat crop during this current snapshot in time.
Wheat Tour 25 continues Wednesday with six routes between Colby and Wichita, Kansas.