The National Wheat Yield Contest announced the 2022 winners for its seventh annual event. The contest, put on by the National Wheat Foundation, is divided into winter and spring wheat categories. These two divisions are broken down into subcategories for dryland and irrigated operations in each category.

The objectives of the contest is to support new ideas for crop improvement, transfer knowledge between growers, increase experimentation with new technologies and identify top wheat growers in each state.

“We know that genetics, environment and management all need to be just right for wheat to thrive,” says Joe Kjer, National Wheat Foundation chair. “We are proud to see so many wheat growers continue to reach for higher and better yields, while also growing wheat that customers desire.”

This year’s event had contestants from across the wheat-growing region, with winners from 27 states. The top yield winner was Rylee Reynolds of Twin Falls County, Idaho, with 231 bushels an acre. It beat out the prior contest and personal record of 211 bushels an acre in 2019. Reynolds and his father, Gary, have both placed in the winter wheat irrigated category in former years.

North Dakota winners

Producers from North Dakota put their best crop forward, with five of the national winners coming from the state. Contestants in both categories have to prove their wheat grade would be Level 1 or 2 to compete. The winners also must ship a wheat sample for additional quality parameters. If these samples meet the specified customer-desired quality targets, they will be awarded an additional $500.

The winners in dryland winter wheat for the Dakotas are:

The dryland spring wheat winners in the Dakotas are:

For the full list of winners and more information, visit yieldcontest.wheatfoundation.org. 

The National Wheat Foundation contributed to this article.