Washington D.C. (November 12, 2019) – The National Wheat Foundation’s National Wheat Yield Contest offers growers the opportunity to compete with farmers from across the United States and improve their production practices through new and innovative techniques. Today, NWF is announcing the national winners for the 2019 National Wheat Yield Contest.
“A special congratulations to Rick Pearson from Buhl, ID and Tom Duyck from Forest Grove, Oregon for being this year’s Irrigated and Dryland Bin Buster winners,” stated Foundation Board President Wayne Hurst. “This is the second year we have included a quality component into the Contest which not only lead to an increase in applicants but diversified the candidate pool. Because wheat is a food crop, quality is important to our consumers, bakers and millers. Improved quality is very important and critical to increasing demand for wheat.”
The contest recognizes winners in two primary competition categories: winter wheat and spring wheat, and two subcategories: dryland and irrigated.
“NWF would like to thank each grower for enrolling in the NWYC and thank our sponsors for helping to make the Contest available to wheat growers in the United States. Entries for the Contest continue to be on an uphill trend, and this year we received a record-breaking 397 entries,” continued Hurst.
This year’s National winners per category*:
Bin Buster Winners
Rick Pearson
Field Location: Twin Falls County, ID
Variety/Variety Name: AgriPro, SY Ovation
Category: Winter Wheat – Irrigated
Final Yield: 211.59
Tom Duyck
Field Location: Washington, OR
Variety/Variety Name: ORCF, Rosalyn
Category: Winter Wheat – Dryland
Final Yield: 191.66
Spring Wheat WinnerS– High Yield Category
Irrigated
| Name | Field County/State | Variety | Variety Name/Number | Final Yield | National Rank | |
| Derek Friehe | Grant, WA | WestBred | WB9668 | 180.77 | 1st High Yield | |
| Terry Wilcox | Madison,ID | WestBred | WB9668 | 151.40 | 2nd High Yield |
| Name | Field County/State | Variety | Variety Name/Number | Final Yield | % Increase of Cty Avg | National Rank |
| Trevor Stout | Latah, ID | WestBred | WB9668 | 111.13 | 1st High Yield | |
| Brian Lacey | Grant, MN | WestBred | WB9479 | 103.04 | 2nd High Yield | |
| Jon Wert | Hettinger, ND | Limagrain | Trigger | 101.25 | 3rd High Yield | |
| Derrick Enos | Baker, MT | Limagrain | Trigger | 94.95 | 239% | 1st |
| Doug Fitterer | New England, ND | Westbred | WB9590 | 96.07 | 191% | 2nd |
| Orin Knutson | Oslo, MN | Westbred | WB9590 | 98.19 | 78.51% | 3rd |
Dryland
Winter Wheat Winners – High Yield Category
Irrigated
| Name | Field
County/State |
Variety | Variety Name/Number | Final Yield | National Rank | |
| Marc Arnusch | Weld, CO | WestBred | WB4418 | 210.52 | 1st High Yield | |
| Phillip Gross | Adams, WA | WestBred | WB4394 | 200.48 | 2nd High Yield |
Dryland
| Name | Field County/ State | Variety | Variety Name/Number | Final Yield | National Rank | |
| Doug Stout | Latah, ID | WestBred | Keldin | 181.93 | 1st High Yield | |
| Jason Beechinor | Walla Walla, WA | Limagrain | Artdeco | 167.95 | 2nd High Yield | |
| Nick Suwyn | Allegan, MI | AgriPro | SY-100 | 165.65 | 3rd High Yield | |
| Alec Horton | Finney, KS | WestBred | WB4792 | 146.81 | 4th High Yield | |
| Ed Evertson | Cheyenne, NE | PlainsGold | Langin | 146.77 | 5th High Yield | |
| Shawn Kimbrel | Sunray, TX | Westbred | Winterhawk | 70.93 | 373% | 1st |
| Travis Freeburg | Pine Bluffs, NE | AgriPro | Monument | 125.04 | 362% | 2nd |
| Rick Horton | Leoti, KS | Westbred | WB4792 | 132 | 340% | 3rd |
| CR Freeman | Lone Wolf, OK | Westbred | WB4515 | 95.29 | 333% | 4th |
| Ty Anderson | Pine Bluffs, WY | Croplan | CP7909 | 119.32 | 298% | 5th |
The sponsors for the 2019 National Yield Contest are AgriMaxx, Ardent Mills, BASF, Corteva Agriscience, Croplan/Winfield, Indigo Ag, Grain Craft, John Deere, LCS, Mennel Milling, Miller Milling, Syngenta, and WestBred.
*It should be noted winners are selected by the percentage increase their yield exceeds the most recent 5-year Olympic county average as determined by USDA.
**Final yield in bushels/acre
The national winners attending the 2020 Commodity Classic will be recognized during a reception celebrating the Contest and its winners. The 2020 Classic will be held in San Antonio, Texas from February 27th – February 29th. Official rules and entry details for the 2020Contest will be available by January 1st, 2020 at www.yieldcontest.wheatfoundation.org.
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About the Foundation
The National Wheat Foundation was established by the industry to serve as the national center for wheat research, education and outreach. Serving our mission, the Foundation works to advance the wheat industry through strategic research, education and outreach collaborations, guided by core values of grower centeredness, integrity, honesty and trustworthiness. The Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization incorporated and headquartered in Washington, D.C., governed by a nine-member Board of Directors and managed by staff of the National Association of Wheat Growers, the Foundation’s sole member.