Kansas Wheat

Kansas Wheat announced a Plainville farmer has been named the winner of the Kansas Wheat Yield Contest Quality Initiative award.

Doug Keas, Plainville, is this year’s winner, as well as the central region winner of  Wheat Yield Contest. Keas planted SY Wolf on a 10.32 acre plot in Rooks County. His winning yield was 78.39 bushels an acre. His wheat sample was also graded as the overall best quality wheat submitted through the contest. This result was determined by the overall quality and mill and bake scores.

Keas said he always knew he wanted to farm. While other kids wanted to be firefighters and police officers, Keas dreamed of being a farmer.

“I’ve been so competitive all of my life, and I love to enter any contest,” he said. “My agronomist told me that I should enter this one, so I just had to give it a shot.”

Keas’ sample featured 62.7 pound test weight, 13.95 protein, plus excellent mill and bake characteristics, with an emphasis on dough mix times, strength and loaf volume.

“The milling industry is dependent upon high-quality wheat grown in Kansas,” said Justin Glipin, CEO of Kansas Wheat. “The Kansas Wheat Yield Contest Quality Initiative highlights the genetics and farming practices that deliver high-quality products to the milling industry.”

The quality evaluation was conducted at the ADM Milling Quality Laboratory in Overland Park. ADM and Kansas Wheat Commission sponsor the Quality Initiative.

The 2014 Kansas Wheat Yield Contest is sponsored by BASF, Bayer Crop Science, WestBred, Kansas Wheat Alliance, Limagrain, Plains Gold, AgriPro, ADM and Kansas Wheat. Winners of the contest receive a $1,000 prize that was presented by Governor Brownback at the Kansas State Fair. Keas’s sample with the highest overall quality, mill and bake scores received $250.

For more information about the Kansas Wheat Yield Contest, including agronomic information on this year’s winning fields, visit the Kansas Wheat website at www.kansaswheat.org.