Dryland National Spring Wheat Category Winner

Nick Pfaff faced severe drought going into the 2025 spring wheat season. In fact, it was so dry, the Bismarck, North Dakota, farmer cut nitrogen applications in half prior to seeding to hedge his input bets.

"I have never done that before with wheat; but I couldn't see pouring money into a crop with limited prospects," he recalled.

The gasping start makes the story of Pfaff's eventual Bin Buster win in the 2025 National Wheat Yield Contest dryland spring wheat category remarkable. His 147.81 bushel per acre (bpa) entry of Croplan 3119A, an awnless variety, bested the next entry in the category by 24 bpa.

"All of a sudden, the rains start coming like crazy after emergence," he recalled. "I quickly realized there wasn't enough nitrogen down, and I needed to get back out and top-dress everything. To be honest, I think that dose of nitrogen might be responsible for the yield bump. But it wouldn't have gone out if we hadn't gotten moisture," he said.

Now in its 10th year, the yield contest organized by the National Wheat Foundation (NWF) has encouraged wheat growers to strive for exceptional yields, high quality and stronger profitability while trying new and innovative management strategies that drive productivity and marketability. DTN/Progressive Farmer is the official media outlet of the competition.

Pfaff is no stranger to the wheat winner's circle. He won the same category in 2024 by producing 117.60 bpa with Croplan 3099A, another awnless (also known as beardless) variety.

Pfaff likes participating in the wheat contest because it is a push to take stock of varietal characteristics and measure how they respond on his farm. During the 2024 crop year, he noticed Croplan 3119A outyielding other varieties planted on his higher productivity fields by 10 to 20 bpa -- all while exhibiting better protein levels. He made a note to make sure to plant it on a bigger swath in 2025. The observation paid off.

Typically, picking the right contest field is another part of the equation in this region of central North Dakota along the upper Missouri River. The farm is geographically diverse and spread over 75 miles. Fields closer to the river tend to be more nutrient dense and nearly always yield better.

"What happened with our nitrogen application this year wasn't planned. It was us responding to conditions at hand. And I think it's important to understand that this winning entry didn't get any extra juice or special ingredients that didn't go out on all our wheat fields," Pfaff said.

"That field does happen to be one of our best with regard to productivity index. So, when we saw the yield monitor hit 147.81 (bpa), we took the yield sample and thought we had the top.

"Then, later in the day, we had a different field hit 152 bpa. We'd already gone through all the work of collecting the previous entry. So, I made the decision to keep cutting and hoped I had enough to do well in the contest," he said.

The field holding the 2025 winning yield was extracted from a 322-acre field that averaged around 83 bpa.

"It takes our very top ground to produce consistently high yields," he noted. "But this year was more variable than many. And the rains were relentless for a while and resulted in some added disease pressure that I think hurt our overall average."

For contrast, last year's winning entry of 117.60 bpa had a whole field average of 107 bpa. But Pfaff said it was one of those years when moisture was more consistent and the areas of the field with lower productivity didn't drag down the average.

The 2025 entry was seeded on April 12. Split nitrogen applications on the field totaled 222 pounds per acre. Approximately 75 pounds of the nitrogen went on at jointing. He also applied a full micronutrient package.

Routine fungicide treatments have proven to be a good investment against fusarium head blight and other diseases, Pfaff said. Beardless varieties can be more susceptible to disease.

"The upside is awnless wheat has a longer maturity which extends grain fill and gives us a longer harvest window. Awnless varieties tend to be more durable and hold up to wind and weather," he said. Croplan 3119A is rated at 62 days to heading and 95 days to maturity.

The stalk strength and the volume of biomass generated with this variety requires slowing combines down, Pfaff noted. "Cutting 140 to 150 bpa yields, we were slowed to 1 mph to 2 mph with our X9 (John Deere) combines. It feels like you aren't getting anywhere and then, you realize the hopper is filling fast," he said.

Pfaff said nitrogen management helps with protein management, as well. But discounts are always a concern since there's nearly always a protein tradeoff with higher yields.

"More bushels help balance out discounts to an extent, but not enough to offset current wheat prices," Pfaff said. "High-yield wheat also requires inputs that have not come down in price. Toss in the possibility of an average yield and the outlook for 2026 is dire.

"I know how to raise good wheat," he noted. "What I don't know is how to raise it profitability at these market prices. Right now, I do not plan to plant wheat next year. That's a hard decision because I like growing wheat and having it in my crop rotation." The farm had nearly 7,000 acres of wheat in 2025.

"I'd trade winning the contest if we could just get some better prices," he added. "There's nothing quite like running a combine through yields like that. I hope I get to do it again."

Winners in the 2025 National Wheat Yield Contest Dryland Winter Wheat Category include:

2025 NATIONAL WINNERS

SPRING WHEAT DRYLAND CATEGORY:

Bin Buster: Nick Pfaff

Bismarck, North Dakota

Variety: Croplan 3119A

Yield: 147.81 bpa

First Place: Brent Philipp

Goodridge, Minnesota

Variety: WestBred WB9590

Yield: 123.67 bpa

Second Place: Karissa Berg

Bottineau, North Dakota

Variety: Dyna-Gro Ballistic

Yield: 110.64 bpa

Third Place: Robert Holzwarth

Hazel, South Dakota

Variety: Limagrain Cereal Seeds Cannon

Yield: 87.86 bpa

More on the 2025 National Wheat Yield Contest can be found here: https://www.dtnpf.com/….

DTN profile on the 2025 Dryland Wheat winning entry can be found here: https://www.dtnpf.com/….

DTN profile on the 2025 Irrigated Spring Wheat winning entry can be found here: https://www.dtnpf.com/….

For more information on the National Wheat Yield Contest and to view past winners, go to: https://www.wheatcontest.org/….

Pamela Smith can be reached at pamela.smith@dtn.com

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