This article was originally posted at 8:20 p.m. CDT on Wednesday, July 24. It was updated at 8:59 p.m. CDT on Wednesday, July 24.

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MINNEAPOLIS (DTN) -- Day 2 of the Wheat Quality Council's Spring Wheat and Durum Tour concluded Wednesday with a total weighted average yield estimate of 52.5 bushels per acre (bpa) of 116 fields. Average spring wheat yield of 99 fields at 53.7 bpa and the average durum yield of 17 fields at 45.6 bpa.

In the 2023 tour, the total weighted average yield estimate of 156 fields was 45.1 bpa, with an average spring wheat yield of 138 fields at 45.7 bpa and an average durum yield of 15 fields at 40.5 bpa.

Field sampling today occurred in northwest and north-central North Dakota as the tour participants made their way from Bismarck to Devils Lake.

Various scouts on social media noted Wednesday that in the north-central part of North Dakota, there was a small presence of hoppers and did not mention seeing scab. In some stops in northwestern North Dakota, scouts noted that scab was minimal on spring wheat and no mention of it on durum. That may change when two routes will spend time on Thursday in western Minnesota where there had been talk of possible scab in that area. That will be the last routes of the tour which ends early afternoon on Thursday, July 25.

Anne Osborne, project manager with the National Wheat Foundation, noted that head scab was much less prevalent Wednesday than in fields during the tour's first day. However, crop development wasn't as far along as farther to the south, so the threat of disease remained.

"The conditions are very favorable for (scab)," she said, "but lots of acres did get fungicides."

Scouts estimated harvest to be approximately four to six weeks away.

Watch www.dtnpf.com for the complete story and more updates from the tour. Also follow DTN Basis Analyst Mary Kennedy on social platform X at @MaryCKenn and DTN/Progressive Farmer @dtnpf.

DTN Crops Editor Jason Jenkins contributed to this article.

Mary Kennedy can be reached at Mary.Kennedy@dtn.com

Follow her on social platform X @MaryCKenn

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