Bin-Busting WestBred® Wheat Genetics Help Growers Win Big in the National Wheat Yield Contest
May 15, 2024
ST. LOUIS (April 15, 2023) — Three of the four Bin Buster awards and a total of 11 national winners in the 2023 National Wheat Yield Contest (NWYC) planted WestBred® Wheat varieties, once again demonstrating the consistent high-end performance across the brand’s portfolio.
Across all categories, the 11 national winners who grew WestBred varieties averaged 136 Bu/A in a range from 109 to 212 Bu/A.
“WestBred Wheat is honored to be able to serve the markets with high-performance varieties containing outstanding agronomic characteristics,” said Jeff Koscelny, cereals account management lead, Bayer. “Our goal at WestBred Wheat is to bring growers wheat genetics that consistently allow them to seize the season. Nine of 10 spring wheat national honors went to WestBred growers, and WestBred varieties placed in 16 different states, showing the strength and diversity of our wheat variety lineup.”
Eleven of the 24 national winners in the 2023 NWYC planted WestBred Wheat varieties, including three of the four Bin Buster winners capturing the Spring Wheat-Dryland, Spring Wheat-Irrigated and Winter Wheat-Irrigated categories. Six different states had national winners who planted WestBred Wheat.
Entrants were judged in two primary categories: spring wheat and winter wheat, broken into subcategories of dryland and irrigated. Awards were also given for percent increase over county averages in the dryland subcategories.
The 2023 NWYC WestBred national winners:
Spring Wheat — Dryland
- Bin Buster Winner — Brad Disrud, Rolla, North Dakota, with a yield of 129.98Bu/A with WB9590 variety.
- First Place — John Wesolowski, Warren, Minnesota, with a yield of 126.09 Bu/A with WB9590 variety.
- Second Place — Lance Olson, Mott, North Dakota, with a yield of 122.09 Bu/A with WB9606 variety.
- Third Place — Trevor Stout, Genesee, Idaho, with a yield of 119.91 Bu/A with WB9623 variety.
- First Place, Percentage Increase — Austin Kautzman, Mott, North Dakota, with a 273% increase over county average with WB9606 variety. Final yield: 119.94 Bu/A (County Average: 32.2 Bu/A).
- Third Place, Percentage Increase — Devan Laufer, Mott, North Dakota, with a 241% increase over county average with WB9719 variety. Final yield: 109.8 Bu/A (County Average: 32.19 Bu/A).
Spring Wheat — Irrigated
- Bin Buster Winner — Dallin Wilcox, Rexburg, Idaho, with a yield of 170.14 Bu/A with WB7589 variety.
- First Place — Jess Blatchford, Haines, Oregon, with a yield of 164.5 Bu/A with WB6341 variety.
- Second Place — Jeff Bieber, Fairview, Montana, with a yield of 109.33 Bu/A with WB9719 variety planted in one of his North Dakota fields.
Winter Wheat — Irrigated
- Bin Buster Winner — Chris Gross, Reardan, Washington, with a yield of 211.98 Bu/A with KELDIN variety.
Winter Wheat — Dryland
- Fifth Place, Percent Increase — David Ebers, Wellston, Oklahoma, with a 204% increase over county average with WB4699 variety. Final yield: 114.88 Bu/A (County Average: 37.8 Bu/A).
At the state level, 27 of the winning farms planted WestBred. There were 17 first-place winning farms that planted WestBred Wheat.
“From California to Missouri, WestBred Wheat varieties helped growers seize their season and win in the 2023 NWYC, and many different varieties are included in these honors, showing the focus our breeding has on regional performance,” Koscelny said. “With a broad portfolio of varieties and a pipeline full of exciting genetics for the future, WestBred Wheat aims to help keep growers productive and profitable. We congratulate all the winning growers and thank the professionals at the WestBred seed suppliers who are so instrumental in helping growers select and place the right variety for an opportunity to win in the NWYC.”
Looking Forward to NWYC 2024
WestBred Wheat is a proud annual sponsor of the National Wheat Yield Contest, which helps illustrate the importance of variety selection and input management in wheat to achieve outstanding performance and demonstrates the innovative agronomics and productivity of U.S. wheat growers. We encourage farmers interested in competing in the 2024 contest to contact their WestBred seed supplier or local WestBred representative. Additional information can be found at WestBred.com. Official rules and entry deadlines will be available in January 2024.
About WestBred
WestBred Wheat provides seed suppliers and their growers access to a high yield potential wheat seed as well as testing, education, resources and experienced representatives to help maximize their yield potential.
###
Performance may vary , from location to location and from year to year, as local growing, soil and environmental conditions may vary. Growers should evaluate data from multiple locations and years whenever possible and should consider the impacts of these conditions on their growing environment.
The recommendations in this material are based upon trial observations and feedback received from a limited number of growers and growing environments. These recommendations should be considered as one reference point and should not be substituted for the professional opinion of agronomists, entomologists or other relevant experts evaluating specific conditions.
Bayer, Bayer Cross, WestBred and Design® and WestBred® are registered trademarks of Bayer Group. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. ©2023 Bayer Group. All Rights Reserved.
