“All Aboard Wheat Harvest” Blog Follows 2017 Wheat Harvest
The 2017 wheat harvest is underway on the U.S. Plains and the High Plains Journal is spending another year following the custom harvesters. The “All Aboard Wheat Harvest” blog, sponsored by John Deere, enlists five correspondents to cover the harvest as the harvesters make their way from Texas to the Dakotas. Keep up with the […]
Variable Conditions Dominate as 2017/18 Harvest Begins
By Stephanie Bryant-Erdmann, USW Market Analyst Combines are beginning to roll for winter wheat harvest in the United States with highly variable wheat and field conditions. The U.S. National Weather Service reported that in May much of the U.S. Plains region received 1.5 to 3 times more rain than normal. On Tuesday, May 30, USDA […]
Freeze, Snow Effects Likely Cut into World’s High Quality Wheat Supply
It is still too early to project specific effects on wheat yields for marketing year 2017/18 from the late-season cold and snow event in Kansas and parts of Colorado, Texas and Nebraska. However, those close to the situation suggest the freeze and snow only add fuel to an already established trend. “The big story with […]
Digging Deeper: How Global Supplies Will Tighten in 2017/18
By Stephanie Bryant-Erdmann, USW Market Analyst While markets focused on USDA’s latest global supply and demand values, a deeper look provides perspective for wheat buyers. Breaking the supply values down into three categories — importer, exporter and China — shows some interesting trends. USDA expects world wheat supply in 2017/18 to fall 2 million metric […]
Wheat Tour Finds Lower Yield Potential; Snow and Freeze Losses Still Uncertain
By Stephanie Bryant-Erdmann, USW Market Analyst This week I joined the annual Wheat Quality Council (WQC) “Hard Red Wheat Tour” for an early survey of the new crop. Each year, participants gather in Manhattan, KS, and spend the next two and a half days in small team, randomly stopping at 14, 15 or more fields […]
USW Reports and Resources Provide Valuable and Timely Information
USW is committed to helping customers get the wheat they want at the best value possible by providing critical information throughout the year. USW Marketing Specialist Stephanie Bryant-Erdmann leads this effort, working closely with a network of traders, extension specialists, market contacts, USDA staff and, of course, colleagues in USW’s overseas offices to analyze and […]
First Reports on HRW Damage from Late Season Snow and Freeze Events: “Just Terrible.”
By Steve Mercer, USW Vice President of Communications Kansas Wheat CEO Justin Gilpin is not a fellow who is prone to hyperbole. So, when @jp_gilp “Tweets” to the world that “we lost the Western Kansas wheat crop,” people notice. Blizzard conditions and up to 18 inches (45.8 cm) of heavy, wet snow came down hard […]
Wheat Quality Improvement Team Travels to Asia to Discuss Quality Control
By Steve Wirsching, USW Vice President and Director, West Coast Office The USW Wheat Quality Improvement Team (WQIT) connects wheat breeders who develop new varieties with overseas customers to discuss which quality characteristics end users value the most. This is essential to the breeding process because for farmers about half of their wheat is exported […]
Importer Ending Stocks Shrink to 6-Year Low
By Stephanie Bryant-Erdmann, USW Market Analyst On April 11, USDA released its latest World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report. With six weeks left in marketing year 2016/17, USDA expects wheat world ending stocks to reach a record high 252 million metric tons (MMT), up 4 percent year over year and 22 percent ahead […]
Wheat Quality Improvement Team to Hear Customer Preferences in Asia
By Steve Wirsching, USW Vice President and Director, West Coast Office This week and next, USW is conducting a top-level Wheat Quality Improvement Team (WQIT) of U.S. wheat breeders taking face-to-face meetings with Asian milling and baking quality control managers to discuss end-use quality and functionality. The breeders will hear first-hand what quality characteristics customers […]