The National Hard Spring Wheat Show, scheduled for Feb. 13-15 in Williston, N.D., is planning again for a tremendous lineup of speakers on a variety of agronomic and farm management topics. Along with the education portion of the show, there is the grain sample competition to see who has the area bragging rights on the spring wheat or durum they raised from the 2005 crop year.

Producers entering commercial or professional samples of wheat or durum will be eligible to win 25 bushels of foundation seed sponsored by the Williston Research Extension Center. The foundation seed will be either a spring wheat or durum variety that is in stock at that time. This is roughly a $300 value.

Participants can enter as many samples as they choose as long as they enter different varieties of spring wheat and/or durum. In addition, the top 10 commercial spring wheat samples will be further evaluated for overall bread making qualities where cash prizes of $150, $100 and $50 and trophies will be awarded to the top three places. This is sponsored by the North Dakota Wheat Commission. Samples must be turned in by Jan. 25 in order to be ready for judging. Sample bags can be picked up at the local county extension office or at the Williston Research Extension Center. Each sample must be identified with the name and address of the exhibitor and the variety of wheat or other crop being entered. Drop samples off at the local extension office or at the Williston Research Extension Center. For questions contact the local extension office or the Williston Research Extension Center at 701-774-4315.

There are three classes of wheat in which to enter a sample: commercial, professional and youth. For the commercial class, a 10 pound (roughly 6 - 8 quarts) sample of a spring wheat or durum variety from the 2005 crop can be submitted. The commercial sample can come straight off the combine or be collected from the bin with no handpicking allowed. Cash prizes will be awarded to the top entries in each sub-class depending on the number of samples entered. Samples will be cleaned by the show management.

The professional class is a one quart sample of spring wheat or durum variety that is handpicked from the 2005 crop. Cash prizes will be awarded to the top ten entries for spring wheat and the top five for durum. All the blue ribbon entries in the youth class will advance to the professional class.

The youth class is open to all youth under 18 years of age, grades 1-12. A quart sized sample of handpicked spring wheat or durum must be submitted. Each youth club whose members exhibit a minimum of 15 handpicked samples of spring wheat and/or durum, representing at least five different varieties, will be awarded $100. Any sample that in not handpicked will be discarded and will not count toward the total number of club samples. Cash prizes will be awarded to all individual samples that are not discarded.

Other crops can also be submitted to the wheat show. A 10-pound sample must be submitted from the 2005 crop. No handpicking allowed since they will be cleaned by the show management. Winter wheat can also be submitted and judged for cash prizes. Other crops (oats, safflower, flax, etc.) will be judged as a class and three ribbons will be awarded.

Samples must be turned in by Jan. 25, in order to be ready for judging at the wheat show. Sample bags can be picked up at your local county extension office or at the Williston Research Extension Center. Each sample must be identified with the name and address of the exhibitor and the variety of wheat or other crop being entered. Drop samples off at your local extension office or at the Williston Research Extension Center. If you have any questions, contact your local extension office or the Williston Research Extension Center at 701-774-4315.