KANSAS CITY - Kansas farmers are expected to bring in a significantly better wheat crop this year compared to the past two seasons -- that's according to results from the 2025 Wheat Quality Council’s Hard Winter Wheat Tour, which concluded Thursday.
After three days of scouting 450 fields across Kansas, participants estimated the state’s wheat harvest in excess of 338 million bushels, with an average yield of 53 bushels per acre. That’s up from an average in the mid-40s last year, and well above the drought-stricken numbers seen in 2023.
Estimates indicate 93% of the acres planted will be harvested.
“Basically, after three days of scouting up in Nebraska down into Oklahoma and all of Kansas, we ended up with a trip average of 53 bushels per acre, which was probably 6 or 7 more than last year on the same route and a lot more than the year before,” Dave Green, the executive vice president of the Wheat Quality Council, said.
The tour, which brings together grain buyers, flour millers, bakers, researchers, exporters, and international guests, is designed to provide a snapshot of the state’s wheat crop ahead of harvest. This year, 67 participants from 21 states and a half-dozen countries traveled in 17 vehicles across six different routes.
While the outlook is generally optimistic, tour participants did encounter scattered cases of Wheat Streak Mosaic Virus, a disease that can dramatically affect yields.
According to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, Kansas farmers planted about 7.4 million acres of wheat last fall, with 6.9 million acres expected to be harvested this summer. The agency’s May 1 forecast placed Kansas production at 345 million bushels, yielding 50 bushels per acre.