South Dakota Wheat Commission

08/18/2026

You’re invited! Let’s celebrate the legacy of this tremendous wheat researcher.

08/17/2026

Mark your calendars! The 37th Annual Draper Winter Wheat Meeting is coming up on August 27th at 6:30 p.m. CDT at Draper Auditorium. This year's program covers 2026 winter wheat variety trial results, wheat marketing insights, and a climate update from SDSU Extension specialists - plus a meal and a giveaway for a Milwaukee 2-gallon handheld sprayer kit, sponsored by Westbred. SD Wheat Commission is proud to support this event alongside our fellow sponsors. Scan the QR code or visit extension.sdstate.edu/events to learn more. Hope to see you there!

08/14/2026

Happy Friday!! Here is this week's SD Wheat Outlook from Executive Director Jonathan Kleinjan:

"HRW - Harvest is essentially finished as the NASS survey numbers put us at 95% complete. Which I guess means the US winter wheat harvest is also finished. We are projected to have 480K harvested acres with a yield of 47 bu/acre for total production of 22.6 million bushels. We have an estimated 26% abandonment rate in HRW this year - lots of folks baled it up to feed cattle. Planting for 2026-27 will likely begin in a couple of weeks. I am hoping the combination of higher prices and recent rains will lead to more planted acres of HRW in SD this year.

"HRS - NASS survey estimates puts harvest at 65% complete so we are rapidly approaching the end of the season in HRS as well. We are projected to have 550K harvested acres with a yield of 44 bu/acre for a total production of 24.2 million bushels. Yields have been all over the board, but overall it sounds like better than producer expectations. Grain protein content has been excellent with a lot of 15-16%. I haven’t heard of any widespread problems with FHB or DON - dry weather does have some advantages.

"WASDE - World production estimates for 26/27 remain essentially the same at 819.3 MMT and ending stocks are projected to be slightly higher at 273.25 MMT. For comparison, production for 25/26 was estimated at 843.8 MMT and ending stocks were 280.2 MMT. Consumption is expected to be 826.3 MMT vs. 809.5 last year. US ending stocks are estimated at 19.66 MMT vs 25.04 MMT last year. Nice to see consumption going up and ending stocks creeping lower. The average farm price was raised to $6.20.

"Weather - Weather is pretty much a non-factor for the 25-26 crop other than potentially causing issues with harvest. It is nice to see cooler temps and we had a good rain event this week which will put some moisture in the ground for the 26/27 HRW crop. The next week gives us a few more chances at precipitation."

08/12/2026

Today, Commission member Tregg Cronin was part of the producer panel at the Midwest Ag Export Summit.

08/11/2026

08/10/2026

📢 This morning, U.S. Wheat Associates and the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) joined organizations representing wheat, rice and sorghum growers as well as the U.S. milling and maritime industry, the World Food Programme and U.S. Department of Agriculture officials in celebrating the latest donation of U.S. commodities through the Food for Peace program at a portside event in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The U.S.-flagged Liberty Grace 🇺🇸 was loaded with 28,420 MT of Louisiana rice and will now travel to Houston to be loaded with 19,980 MT of HRW 🌾 before departing for the Port of Mombasa in Kenya. Through distribution under the World Food Program, the shipment is estimated to feed more than one million people facing starvation for an entire year.

Read more about this event and how it commemorates the shift of the administration of the Food for Peace program to USDA ⬇️
https://uswheat.org/wheat-groups-celebrate-food-for-peace-shipments-at-the-port-of-new-orleans/

08/06/2026

We enjoyed hosting the SD State FFA Officers!

The State Officers wrapped up another stop on their Business & Industry Visits at the South Dakota Wheat Commission!

They learned about the six classes of wheat grown in the industry and explored the current outlook for wheat production compared to other row crops. Thank you to the South Dakota Wheat Commission for sharing your expertise and helping our officers better understand this important sector of agriculture!

08/05/2026

SD Wheat Commission Executive Director Jon Kleinjan recently traveled to New Mexico for the Latin American and Caribbean Buyers Conference, hosted by U.S. Wheat. The event brought together wheat producers, buyers, and industry leaders from across the region to connect, share ideas, and strengthen trade partnerships that matter to South Dakota wheat growers. 🌾

08/03/2026

Here's the SD Wheat Outlook for the week ending July 31, 2026 from Executive Director Jonathan Kleinjan.

HRW: NASS estimated HRW to be 82% complete at the beginning of the week. I would guess we are pretty much close to finished at the time of this update. I’ve heard yields anywhere from 20 - 100 bu/acre and proteins are all over the board as well. Test weights seem to be good everywhere.

HRS: Conditions slipped quite a bit this week, 27% G-E vs 42% last week. I had assumed we were far enough along to avoid damage from the heat, but I guess that’s not the case. Estimated to be 19% harvested at the beginning of the week. I’d guess we are close to halfway done by now. Once again, yields all over the board from 25 - 80 bu/acre. Everyone I have talked to has had good proteins - 15% or more. Hopefully, the market will reward that at some point in the future. I think the northern tier of counties is just getting started so I hope to hear some results from up there next week.

Weather: We had a good rain event Wed-Thu this week. Too late to do anything for this crop but hopefully we will get some moisture in the profile for HRW planting. Cooler temps sure feel nice compared the heat wave we’ve been experiencing.