Production Blog

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (DTN) -- In some corners of the country, winter wheat has started waking up and soon the spring rush of planting season will be in full swing. Before that happens, wheat growers who intend to enter the 2026 National Wheat Yield Contest should submit their entries now and not let deadlines sneak up on them later.

The National Wheat Foundation (NWF) is now accepting entries for its 11th annual yield contest. A total of 28 national winners will be named in 2026 as wheat growers strive for high yield, exceptional quality and increased profit while trying new and innovative management strategies.

This year, the deadlines to enter the contest are May 15 for winter wheat categories and July 31 for spring wheat categories. Harvest data is due by Oct. 1. Growers who wish to enter will need to register on NWF's contest website, found here: https://www.wheatcontest.org/….

During the past two seasons, NWF offered a pilot category, Digital Yield, first for dryland spring wheat growers in 2024 and then for dryland winter wheat growers in 2025. Anne Osborne, NWF executive director, noted that this year, those raising dryland winter wheat in Montana and South Dakota will also be eligible for this category, joining those from Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas and Wyoming.

Dryland spring wheat growers in Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota also may enter Digital Yield using technologies such as John Deere Operations Center, Climate FieldView or Bushel -- along with data from their calibrated grain cart scales -- to submit their yield into the contest from a 20-acre selected area from a previously entered field.

All growers and their trusted advisers, such as seed reps, county agents or agronomists, are encouraged to read through the contest rules and get their entries started, Osborne said. Each entry costs $100.

"Thanks to our great contest partners, there are vouchers that can cover contest fees," she added. "A grower may select this option when submitting their entries."

Wheat growers may enter as many times as they wish in the main contest categories. Eligible winter and spring wheat growers may enter up to three fields in the Digital Yield category.

Though growers can only be recognized as a national winner in one category, they may enter in as many categories for which they are eligible. The 2026 categories include irrigated winter wheat, dryland winter wheat, irrigated spring wheat and dryland spring wheat.

Contest fields must be at least five continuous acres, planted with professionally produced, certified, branded, newly purchased wheat seed that must be verified. The field must also be verified by a third-party supervisor during harvest of the contest field.

Because the National Wheat Yield Contest encourages growers to produce grain that is both high yielding and high quality, all contestants must retain a 10-pound sample of grain from their contest entries. Should an entry place nationally, the wheat sample will be milled, baked and evaluated. A panel of experts will rank the wheat quality by class. Those earning Top-Quality Awards receive an additional cash reward. All national winners will receive a trip to the 2027 Commodity Classic, scheduled to be held March 3-5 in New Orleans.

Entrants must be a member in good standing of a recognized state wheat grower association -- or National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG), if from a state without a state wheat grower association -- before completing and submitting an entry.

The 2025 contest included 11 first-time national winners, including farmers from states that previously had not produced a national winner. The yield average for the 24 national winners in the contest's four traditional categories was 147.01 bushels per acre (bpa), a nearly 2-bushel increase from 2024.

NWF also named 70 state yield contest winners from 22 states in 2025. Their yield average across all categories was 140.41 bpa, up from 133.09 bpa the year before. Since the contest's inception, the record high yield overall has increased by 20%, from 192.85 bpa to 231.37 bpa.

Partnering sponsors for the 2026 National Wheat Yield Contest include: John Deere, WestBred, BASF, DynaGro Seed, U.S. Wheat Associates, Croplan, Limagrain Cereal Seeds, The McGregor Co., Corteva Agriscience, AgXplore, Eastman, Ardent Mills, AgriMaxx, Bushel, Kentucky Small Grain Growers Association, Mennel, North Carolina Small Grain Growers Association, Ohio Corn & Wheat, PlainsGold, Siemer Milling Co., UPL, Climate FieldView, BNSF Railway, Oklahoma Wheat Commission, Grain Craft, Kansas Wheat, Michigan Wheat Program, Miller Milling, Montana Grain Growers Association, Northern Crops Institute, Idaho Wheat, Texas Wheat, Kansas Wheat Alliance, Anheuser-Busch, Nachurs, American Bankers Association, Nebraska Wheat Growers Association, and the Great Plains Analytical Lab. DTN/Progressive Farmer is the official media outlet of the competition.

For more information or to register for the 2026 yield contest, go to https://www.wheatcontest.org/….

Jason Jenkins can be reached at jason.jenkins@dtn.com

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