Millers and Processors Should Like the 2017/18 Soft Red Winter Crop
U.S. farmers produced lower volumes of a very good SRW crop for marketing year 2017/18. This SRW crop has uniformly low dockage, good test weight, somewhat lower protein, very good kernel size and weight, low DON values and no notable pockets of low falling number. Flour extraction rate is somewhat lower than last year. That […]
Opportunities Abound for Customers to Lock-in Competitive Prices
By Stephanie Bryant-Erdmann, USW Market Analyst Sharply lower U.S. wheat production pushed futures prices to 2-and 3-year highs earlier this summer. However, bearish factors have recently pushed prices down. And when wheat futures are under pressure, wheat importers have the opportunity to lock in competitive prices and maybe even find some bargains. Chicago Board of […]
Essential Wheat Crop Quality Analysis is Underway
Because no two crops are alike, the world’s flour millers, bakers and wheat food processors must have some assurance that the wheat they buy will meet their needs. That is why U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) and its partner organizations collect and analyze samples of all six classes of U.S. wheat, compile results and share that […]
USDA: World Wheat Consumption Increases, Spring Wheat in Short Supply
By Stephanie Bryant-Erdmann, USW Market Analyst USDA increased its estimates for world wheat production, consumption and trade in its August World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report released today. USDA forecast global wheat production at 743 million metric tons (MMT), 3 percent above the 5-year average but still 2 percent below last year’s record. […]
Assessing the Wheat Quality Council Tour 2017 Yield Estimate
Reprinted with Permission from “Agweek,” August 2, 2017 [Editor’s Note: The original source for this article is the North Dakota Wheat Commission.] The annual Wheat Quality Council (WQC) tour of the spring and durum wheat region took place the week of July 24, with the final yield result sparking questions and sharp criticism, especially in […]
Annual Spring Wheat Tour Sees Drought Taking Toll on Yield Potential
By Erica Oakley, USW Director of Programs This week, the Wheat Quality Council hosted its annual hard red spring (HRS) and durum crop tour. Participants spent three days in North Dakota surveying this year’s crop and estimating yield. The tour, which surveyed a total of 496 fields, estimated weighted average HRS yield at 38.1 bushels […]
Diminishing Low Protein Premiums Add Value to Soft White Export Supplies
By Stephanie Bryant-Erdmann, USW Market Analyst Four consecutive years of drought, which shrunk soft white (SW) production and increased average protein levels, had the market rationing demand through low protein premiums. Now, after two years of more normal weather patterns, low protein premiums are quickly disappearing providing an excellent buying opportunity for U.S. wheat customers. […]
U.S. Wheat Production to Fall to Lowest Level Since 2002/03
USDA forecast U.S. 2017/18 wheat production at 47.9 million metric tons (MMT), down 24 percent year over year and 18 percent below the 5-year average. The reason: an anticipated 12 percent decline in average yield and the lowest planted acres since USDA records began in 1919. However, USDA expects 2017/18 U.S. beginning stocks to total […]
World Wheat Production to Decline in 2017/18
By Stephanie Bryant-Erdmann, USW Market Analyst With wheat harvest underway in the Northern Hemisphere and wheat planting underway or complete in the Southern Hemisphere, wheat buyers are beginning to see a downward trend in production numbers. As discussed in the June 15 Wheat Letter, the high quality, high protein wheat supply is shrinking and supporting […]
Premiums for Protein on the Rise
By Stephanie Bryant-Erdmann, USW Market Analyst Much needed rain across the U.S. Northern Plains this week gave emerging hard red spring (HRS) and durum crops a drink, but the rain was bookended by hot, windy conditions and likely did little to alleviate drought conditions. Total rainfall for the region ran 60 to 75 percent below […]