"I think were going to see above average yields in North Dakota and average protein, around 14 per cent, maybe a little above that," said Ben Handcock, Executive Vice President of the Wheat Quality Council, key sponsor of the annual spring wheat tour.

The North Dakota Agriculture Statistics Service (NDASS), in its July report to the US Agriculture Department (USDA), said the states yield per acre would be 31.0 bushels, above the yield per acre in 1997 of 25.0 bushels.

However, total spring wheat production this year in the US will be below the tally of a year ago because fewer acres were seeded.

In North Dakota, the only state slated to be scouted this week by the Wheat Quality Council, spring wheat acreage this year was estimated by NDASS at 6.7 million, below the 8.4 million seeded in 1997.

Lowwheat prices and the desire by producers to reduce wheat diseases by rotating cropland to other grains and oilseeds, including canola and sunflowers, led to the cut in spring wheat acreage.

NDASS pegged North Dakotas total spring wheat production this year at 204.6 million bushels, or nearly one half of the estimated US total of 445.3 million bushels. Last year spring wheat production in the US totalled 500.6 million bushels, according to the USDA.

Crop experts told Reuters overnight Monday there were a variety of diseases in this years spring wheat crop but the incidence of fusarium head blight or scab was less this year than that found in last years crop.

Scab has been the most devastating disease of wheat and can completely ruin a crop that within a few weeks of harvest is otherwise healthy. Warm and wet weather during grain development can lead to an outbreak of scab.

North Dakota State University (NDSU) Extension Agronomist Mike Peel said, "basically there is a little bit of everything (diseases)this year, but scab won't be as big a problem this year as last year.

"The quality of this years spring wheat crop is quite good," he said. Most of the diseases are leaf diseases such as leaf rust, but "there are pockets of scab around the state, some septoria and tan spot due to wet weather," Peel said.

A NDSU crop and pest report from the extension plant pathology department said the incidence of leaf rust was variable, from zero to 80 percent in surveyed fields.

Tan spot and septoria also was variable in from one to 100 per cent of fields, depending on the location, variety and crop maturity, the NDSU report said.

Crop scouts said a more accurate picture of the spring wheat crop will be obtained this year than on previous tours because the crop was seeded early and is being harvested early.

USDA late Monday said as of Sunday over 10 per cent of the US spring wheat crop had been harvested. None of the crop had been harvested by this date a year ago and the five year average harvest pace for earlyAugust is only one percent, according to the USDA.

"Well be stopping at more elevators this year so well get a better grasp of what's out there, a lot of the wheat has been cut in the southern area," Handcock said.

The rapid advance of wheat harvesting has led to recent active hedge selling of spring wheat on the Minneapolis Grain Exchange (MGE). US wheat prices have fallen from record highs set roughly 2 years ago and spring wheat futures traded on the MGE have been notching series of contract lows in recent weeks.

"Its going to be a challenge for farmers who haven't marketed their wheat already, it would have been good to have used the futures (producer hedging). I think there will be a lot of wheat stored because of the low prices," said Ben Gage, President of the North Dakota Grain Growers.

The Wheat Quality Council tour of North Dakotas spring wheat region began overnight Monday and will conclude late Thursday.