WASHINGTON — Twenty six wheat producers on farms from New Jersey to Washington and from North Dakota to Texas are winners in the National Wheat Foundation’s annual wheat yield contest.

Beyond the 26 national winners, 94 state winners were announced. Contestants in four main categories numbered 516, the largest participation in the history of the contest initiated nine years ago to encourage experimentation with innovative wheat management strategies as growers maintain a focus on high yield, quality and profit.

In the category of winter wheat, dryland, Steve VanGrunsven of Forest Grove, Ore., earned the bin buster designation by harvesting 170.63 bus per acre of a soft white wheat variety called Shine. The bin buster and positions 1 through 3 all were awarded to soft white wheat growers. The top dryland soft red winter wheat yield was awarded to Scott Truszkowski of Stewartsville, NJ, who harvested 152.33 bus per acre of a variety called 9070.

The top dryland hard red winter wheat yield was given to David Ebers of Wellston, Okla., and his 136.42 bus per acre of the WB4422 variety.

The dryland spring wheat yield winners spanned most of the primary production area from Minnesota to Oregon. The top-yielding bin buster designation was harvested by Nick Pfaff of Bismarck, ND, and his 117.6 bus per acre of the hard red spring wheat variety 3099A. At first place (second-highest yield) was John Wesolowski of Warren, Minn., and his 114.93 bus per acre of WB9590 variety hard red spring wheat.

The wheat foundation indicated 7 of the 26 national winners were first-time winners. Two of the winners are from the new category, digital yield, which ran as a pilot in dryland spring wheat only in four northern Plains states. The high yield for that category was 102 bus per acre harvested by Brad Disrud of Rolla, ND, who also grew WB9590 hard red spring wheat.

 “We are pleased with how the pilot digital yield category went and how much we can learn from it,” said Anne Osborne, National Wheat Foundation project manager. “We expect to continue this type of category and will take time this winter to gather feedback from the participants and our partners who helped us develop this category to refine it even more.”

All 26 national winners will ship in a wheat sample to be tested for quality parameters, including milling and baking analysis. A panel of experts will evaluate the results, and top-quality winners will be announced on Jan. 15 at the National Wheat Foundation’s Winter Board meeting in Washington.