Each year wheat farmers from every state are invited to enter the National Wheat Yield Contest to compete for the highest yield in bushels-per-acre.

This year, Montana’s winner in the Dryland Winter Wheat category was an 18-year-old who farms near Ryegate.  Not only did Wyatt Ramage post the top yield in the state, but he also placed 5th in the entire nation for “Percent of Yield Above the County Average”, because his per-acre-yield was over 3 times the average for his county!

The National Wheat Yield Contest is a project of the National Wheat Foundation, assisted by the staff of the National Association of Wheat Growers.  Winners are selected in several categories, so the List of 2025 State Winners includes both Dryland and Irrigated Winter Wheat and Spring Wheat growers from across America.

In a podcast with Taylor Brown, Wyatt Ramage and his father Kelly Ramage, (who has placed in the National Wheat Yield Contest previously), discuss the contest and what it takes to accomplish their award-winning yields.

Joining the Ramage Family in the Northern Ag Network Studio was Nathan Haynie, Crop Agronomist, and Area manager for Nutrien Ag Solutions in Billings.  The Ramages purchased their seed and many of their crop inputs from Nutrien Ag Solutions, a leading supplier of seed varieties, fertilizer, crop protection products and agronomic expertise.

For questions on how to participate in the 2026 National Wheat Yield contest, contact Anne Osborne of the National Wheat Foundation at: aosborne@wheatworld.org.