The winners of the National Wheat Foundation Top-Quality Wheat Contest were announced last week during the Annual Wheat Quality Meeting. Started in 2016, the contest’s objectives are to improve the overall productivity, quality, and marketability of the U.S. crop, communicate the importance of yield, quality, and profit to all segments of the wheat industry, and develop best management practices to achieve high yield, high quality, and higher profits.
This was only the third year that the yield contest included an evaluation of grain quality, but since then, quality has become a major component. Oklahoma Farm Report’s Stevie White is featuring comments from the NWF Wheat Quality Meeting.
U.S. Wheat Associates Vice President and Director Steve Wirsching explained why producing quality is so important for producers, “Generally, U.S. wheat is priced higher than our competition, so we need to market our wheat on price times quality and value. We try not to talk about price so much and we try to enhance conversations about quality so we can increase the value of the wheat to our customers.”
In many foreign markets, this has been accomplished, and the customers are paying more for their wheat because they recognize the value of it.
Wirsching went on to explain why value matters so much. “Currently, about 43 percent of U.S. wheat is exported,” he said. “For the last five years, we have exported an average of 23 million metric tons, so it is a large enough amount of wheat that it does influence farm gate prices, so we do need to consider what our overseas markets want in terms of quality and service from our wheat growers.”
Those who participated in the Top-Quality Contest conserved a 10-pound sample from their harvested entries, and after the 26 national winners were named last November, those growers sent in their samples for analysis of milling and baking characteristics.
To evaluate quality, the samples were sent to two different laboratories. The hard wheat samples were milled and analyzed at the Great Plains Analytical Laboratory in Kansas City, Missouri, and the soft wheat samples were sent to the Wheat Marketing Center in Portland, Oregon. Characteristics such as test weight and protein were also evaluated, as were flour characteristics such as falling number, gluten percentage, consistency and stability.
Additionally, the flour samples were used to produce various baked goods to evaluate their end product use quality. The hard wheat entries were baked into bread, and the soft wheat entries were made into sponge cakes and sugar cookies.
The winners were determined by a very diverse panel from across the wheat industry who granted points based on recognized standards.
The three winners of the Hard Red Winter Wheat Contest were all from Oklahoma. They were:
- Tom Hill of Tonkawa – 3rd % increase Winter Dryland LCS Warbird AX 135.64 bu/ac 282.72 increase over county
- Zach Balahtsis of Tonkawa – 2nd Winter Irrigated LCS Warbird AX 177.52 bu/ac
- David Ebers of Wellston – 1st % increase Winter Dryland WestBred WB4422 136.42 bu/ac 350.52% increase over county
Hard Red Spring
- Dale Flikkema-Bozeman, MT 2nd Spring Dryland WestBred WB9668 113.74 bu/ac
- Bruce & Helle Ruddenklau-Amity OR 3rd Spring Dryland WestBred WB9668 106.95 bu/ac
- Austin Kautzman-Mott, ND 2nd % increase Spring Dryland WestBred WB9606 90.13 bu/ac 147.01% increase over county
Hard White Spring
- Dallin Wilcox-Rexburg, ID 1st Spring Irrigated WestBred WB7589 169.94 bu/ac
Soft White
- Joel Zwainz-Reardan, WA 2nd Spring Irrigated WSU Tekoa 165.35 bu/ac
- Oree Reynolds- Castleford, ID 1st Winter Irrigated WestBred WB1621 220.81 bu
- Jess Blatchford-Baker City, OR Bin Buster Spring Irrigated WestBred WB6341
174.74 bu/ac
Soft Red Winter
- Mark Deysher-Bath, PA 5th Winter Dryland Seedway SW65 152.32 bu/ac
- Scott Truszkowski-Stewartsville, NJ 4th Winter Dryland Dyna-Gro 9070 152.33 bu/ac
Each of the twelve winners will receive awards for their efforts and are invited to the NWF Winners’ Reception on Sunday, March 2, 2025, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Embassy Suites in Denver, Colorado, during the 2025 Commodity Classic. Attendees may expect hors d’oeuvre and drinks. More information can be found at wheatfoundation.org.
The National Wheat Foundation and BASF Award $5000 in Scholarships to College Students
Two exceptional college students pursuing careers in agriculture will be awarded $2,500 each this semester from the National Wheat Foundation (NWF), with sponsorship from BASF.
NWF is encouraged to see such bright and hard-working students with career goals that will benefit agriculture and the wheat industry for many years to come.
NWF selected Teagan Macy, a junior at the University of Idaho pursuing a degree in crop science. Macy is the fourth generation from their family farm near Culver, Oregon. She has excelled academically and in extra-curricular activities such as FFA and soil judging. Congratulations, Macy.
Ryland Peters, a sophomore at the University of Nebraska Lincoln, was also selected. Peters is pursuing an Agricultural Economics degree and has excelled as a Wheat Ambassador for the Nebraska Wheat Board. Peters is passionate about agriculture and the wheat industry. Congratulations, Ryland.
“One of our most enjoyable and rewarding projects is this scholarship program, where we get to see such exceptional young people who are making a difference for our industry and will continue to be leaders over the next several decades,” said Ben Scholz, Chair of the NWF scholarship committee and farmer from Lavon, Texas. “Thank you to BASF for their partnership, which makes this important program possible.”
“At BASF, we are deeply committed to supporting the future of agriculture and fostering a more sustainable world,” said Chelsie Metzler, Wheat Product Manager at BASF. “Through our partnership with the National Wheat Foundation, we’re proud to invest in outstanding students like Teagan Macy and Ryland Peters. By empowering the next generation of agricultural leaders, we are not only recognizing their dedication and passion but also advancing sustainability in agriculture. Programs like this scholarship help create a lasting legacy that enables a positive impact on the wheat industry and the broader agricultural community as a whole. We are thrilled to recognize Teagan and Ryland this year. Their dedication and passion for agriculture inspire us all.”
College students are encouraged to apply for this scholarship next year. The deadline is December 31, 2025. More details can be found on the National Wheat Foundation website, www.wheatfoundation.org.
Scholarship article and recipient photos provided by National Wheat Foundation.
