Washington Farmer’s Job Titles Are Many; Add ‘Sustainable Producer’ to the List
A business card to describe the jobs Art Schultheis fills in a typical year would be too big for any pocket. “I drive a tractor and harvest with a combine – all the things people think a farmer does,” explained Schultheis, a fifth-generation farmer from Colton, Washington. “But behind the scenes I’m also a mechanic, […]
African Trade Team Explores U.S. Wheat Supply Chain, Meets Farmers in Kansas, North Dakota and Minnesota
Pictured above at the Port of Duluth in Minnesota: Chad Wiegand, USW Regional Director for Sub-Saharan Africa; Vigneswaran Sinnathurai, Vice President of Milling at Olam; Alok Khator, Vice President and Regional Manufacturing Head at Olam; Savan Sunil Shah, Director at United Millers LTD; Coreen Berdahl, Vice President of Operations at Minnesota Wheat. Buyers from two […]
Historically Low PNW HRS Export Basis Demonstrates Buying Opportunity
As the geopolitical conflict between Russia and Ukraine comes back into focus following the attacks on port infrastructure in the Ukrainian Black Sea ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk, and the terminals along the Danube River, wheat market volatility remains an ever-present risk. Despite the recent swings, export basis trends can help provide clues to potential buying […]
Spring Wheat and Durum Tour Provides Insight, Interaction for U.S. Wheat Industry Stakeholders
Participating in the Wheat Quality Council’s Spring and Durum Wheat Tour for the first time, U.S. Wheat Associates’ (USW) Peter Laudeman was eager to discover what he could learn about the 2023 crop across an important section of the Northern Plains. He wasn’t disappointed. The tour, which included examination of more than 300 spring wheat […]
Optimism Emerges for U.S. Hard Red Spring Wheat
As the 2023/24 marketing year begins, the market awaits the outlook for the new crop harvest. Despite early concerns anticipating wet conditions and late planting similar to the 2022 crop year, hard red spring (HRS) planting progress has surpassed expectations. Rapid Planting Progress Spring wheat farmers have made incredible planting progress after a historically snowy […]
VIDEO: USW Bakery Consultant Roy Chung on the Value of Frozen Dough Made with U.S. Wheat
Roy Chung has been teaching U.S. wheat’s international customers about the value of frozen dough for more than 30 years. During the COVID pandemic, many of his points about frozen dough’s importance in the marketplace were confirmed, as bakeries that were using it were able to continue operations despite staffing shortages. Chung, a U.S. Wheat […]
Perspectives on March 31 Prospective Plantings and Stocks Reports
Each year, on March 31, those who grow, trade or import U.S. agricultural commodities look to USDA’s annual Prospective Plantings and Quarterly Grain Stocks Report for indications of potential price movements. The consensus from analysts across the industry on how this week’s reports will affect wheat markets is generally bullish. For reference, in its January […]
What to Know About Clean Label and Implications for Wheat Food Production
Editor’s Note: Important work has been done indicating that U.S. hard red spring (HRS) is a potential “clean label” ingredients for the world’s commercial bakers. To help wheat buyers understand more about this opportunity, U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) is reprinting the following post originally published in October 2021. The concept of “clean label” products is […]
Promoting U.S. Wheat Around the World in 2022
As U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) President Vince Peterson often says, at any given hour of the day someone, somewhere, is talking about the quality, reliability and value of U.S. wheat. Wheat Letter wants to share just some of the ways USW has been working recently to build a preference for U.S. wheat in an ever more complex world wheat […]
Hard Red Spring Crop Makes Strong Recovery, Shows Positive Quality Characteristics
The 2022 U.S. HRS crop recovered from last year’s historic drought. This crop has many positive attributes, including higher supply levels, strong grading characteristics, little to no DON and sound kernel characteristics. Overall protein is lower, but over half of the crop still has protein levels of 14% (12% mb) or higher. While dough strength […]