Cash Market Moves

Crop scouts are gathering in Fargo, North Dakota, today to get ready for the Wheat Quality Council's 2025 Spring Wheat and Durum Tour. Dave Green, the council's executive vice president, told DTN he has a "big crowd" registered for this year's spring tour.

As of July 17, there were 51 individuals on the list, including the usual blend of millers, bakers, commodity representatives, university employees and media. Also participating are individuals employed by the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service. In May, no federal employees participated in the council's Hard Winter Wheat tour in Kansas, Green noted.

"This is the perfect tour for the Foreign Ag Service. These are ag attaches getting ready to go overseas," he said. "I feel good getting those guys trained. Not only do they get to examine a wheat crop in the field, but North Dakota in July offers a wide range of crops to see -- from corn and soybeans to canola and sugar beets."

This year, scouts will likely be treated to good crop conditions so far. According to USDA's weekly Crop Progress Report released Monday, July 14, 54% of the spring wheat crop is in good to excellent condition, while 33% is rated fair, 12% is rated poor and 1% is rated very poor. Good-to-excellent ratings in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota are 87%, 71% and 64%, respectively. The crop's overall condition is being affected by conditions in Montana, where only 4% of the crop is rated good to excellent.

USDA also reported that the spring crop is close to flowering, the stage following heading out. South Dakota is 100% headed out, North Dakota is 81% headed and Minnesota is 86% headed out. At the flowering stage, wheat is susceptible to Fusarium head blight if the weather is wet, warm or extremely humid. The disease can reduce yields and produce mycotoxins that can affect both human and animal health.

Darrin Schmidt, a farmer in eastern North Dakota, said the spring wheat crop in his area looks good.

"On our farm, we haven't had a lot of rain, but good subsoil moisture has given us leeway waiting for what have been small but timely rains," he said. "All crops, not just wheat, look really good with no drown out, and we've had some heat recently to push it along. Can't complain and am fortunate for what we have received. Went to Parshall, North Dakota, then went to the west side of the state and down to Fargo, North Dakota, and south in the Red River Valley. I think we are going to have a pretty good wheat crop as long as quality isn't a concern."

"Wheat looks good everywhere," said Riley Schriefer, who lives in western North Dakota. "We just received very timely rain with more to come, and heads are filling great. Barring any disease problems, it should be a great harvest. I drive by a lot of 50- to 70-bushel spring wheat. Out here, that's good wheat."

As in the past, Day 1 routes will run from Fargo to Bismarck, Day 2 routes from Bismarck to Devils Lake and Day 3 routes from Devils Lake back to Fargo, according to Green.

In 2024, the tour revived a Day 1 route dipping into five northeast South Dakota counties along the border with North Dakota. However, spring wheat acres in that region have dwindled as farmers plant other crops, notably corn and soybeans. As a result, Green said this year's tour would not include the South Dakota route, nor will it include the traditional route that traverses five North Dakota counties along the state's southern border on Day 1.

"There just isn't enough wheat in the region to justify the routes," he said. "Day 3 will still include routes that cross over into the western tier of Minnesota counties."

The 2025 tour will begin with training sessions the afternoon of July 21, and then scouts will head out on their appointed routes July 22. The final day of the tour will be Thursday when the final yield is accessed and released midday.

In 2024, after assessing 257 fields, the tour recorded a final three-day total weighted average of 53.8 bushels per acre (bpa) for all wheat, which was the highest average yield recorded by the tour in the past 30 years. The average spring wheat yield was estimated at 54.5 bpa across 237 fields, while the average durum yield was estimated at 45.3 bpa from 18 fields. The USDA national average yield for spring wheat in 2024 was 52.5 bpa; in North Dakota, the average yield was 59 bpa.

Look for daily updates on this week's tour and final yield estimates on www.dtnpf.com.

DTN Crops Editor Jason Jenkins contributed to this report.

Mary Kennedy can be reached at Mary.Kennedy@dtn.com

Follow her on social media app X @MaryCKenn

(c) Copyright 2025 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.