There are three ways to win in the National Wheat Foundation’s National Wheat Yield Contest this year:

• The High-Yield Award. The top three highest-yielding entries per state will be recognized. National winners will be selected from the group of first-place state winners.

• The Bin Buster Award. The entry with the highest overall bushels per acre out of all categories will be recognized.

• The Yield Percentage Increase Award. Recognition will be given to the top three growers in each state based on the percentage increase above their most recent USDA published county average. From there, national winners are selected from the group of first-place state winners.

National winners from each category and subcategory, along with the overall high-yield winner, will be recognized at a wheat reception at the 2020 Commodity Classic, to be held Feb. 27-29 in San Antonio.

The contest has two categories, Spring Wheat and Winter Wheat; and two subcategories, Irrigated and Dryland.

A grain sample from each contest entry will be required to determine the quality of wheat produced under practices for high yield management. The submission of the grain sample will be a requirement to qualify for national recognition.

The fee to enter the contest is either $100 or $125 per sample, if you enter before the early registration deadline or the final registration deadline, respectively. For the winter wheat class, the early registration deadline has passed. The final deadline is June 15. For spring wheat, the early registration deadline is May 15 and the final deadline is Aug. 1.

Contestants must be current members of their state wheat association or the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG).

For more details, see the contest website.

WestBred offer

WestBred, one of the co-sponsors of the contest and a wheat genetics company, will pay the entry fee for farmers, as well as the NAWG or the state wheat association membership for those who enter WestBred varieties in the contest. The company will also pay for a guest to attend Commodity Classic if you win one of the national awards with a WestBred variety. The National Wheat Foundation will pay for you to attend if you are a national winner.

Last year, the contest received 318 entries from 23 wheat-producing states. WestBred growers placed in each of the categories and subcategories and made up nine of the 10 spring wheat winners.

See the WestBred website for more details.

WestBred provided information for this article.