Second day of the hard red winter wheat tour started in snow banks

WICHITA, Kan. (DTN) -- The second day of the hard red winter wheat tour started in snow banks as they left Colby, but found some nice stands of wheat with more yield potential as scouts wound toward Wichita.The average estimated yield for the day was 46.9 bushels per acre over 205 stops compared to a second-day average of 49.3 bpa last year and 34.5 bpa in 2015. The average yield estimate for the first two days of the tour is 44.9 bpa.The day started off with scouts unable to evaluate many of the fields in the western third of the state because they were still covered by snow and badly lodged. About 70 scouts scattered between 18 routes with each route stopping every 15 miles or so to take a sample. The same routes are used each year to establish consistency.Rick Horton, a wheat farmer from Leoti, dug into snow banks on his own farm to uncover what was a once lush wheat stand that a week ago would have had the potential to make 100 bushels per acre. It was a field he had been pushing for yield, but 18 inches of snow, winds and additional rain last night now have him hoping at least 50% of the yield potential remains. "We won't know for a couple of weeks which way this will go," he said.Other scouts reported uncovering snow-packed wheat only to find 50% to 90% of the stems broken. Water was standing in most wheat rows after a Tuesday night rain joined the melting snow pack. Scout Jim Taylor, representing Tyson Foods, Springdale, Arkansas, said the fields reminded him of the rice fields back home. Scouts often found themselves in mud that would have been better with waders than Muck boots. They also soon found the goal was to grab samples and outrun the mosquitos.