WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S. — North Dakota hosted National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) Chief Executive Officer Dana Peterson and Mary Waters, president of the North American Miller’s Association (NAMA), who joined nearly sixty others on the Wheat Quality Council’s 2010 Hard Spring and Durum Wheat Tour at the end of July. This was Waters’ first wheat tour and the first spring and durum wheat tour for Peterson.

Tour participants traveled the state learning about wheat production and rural communities, scouting fields for diseases or pests and taking a snapshot of yields given the current field conditions. Eight routes began in Fargo and took various routes throughout wheat production areas to Bismarck. The cars met in Devil’s Lake with the day’s final tour including the North Dakota Mill in Grand Forks before coming to an end at the Northern Crops Institute in Fargo.

At the end of each day’s touring the group convened to share notes about the crop. Several local farmers joined the group for the reporting session and pasta dinner.

Participants included farmers, domestic and international wheat millers, grain merchandisers, news media and government agency officials. The tour offers all participants an opportunity to learn about rural North Dakota and all segments of the U.S. wheat production chain.