A Better Start for U.S. Hard Red Winter Wheat Conditions
With U.S. hard red winter (HRW) and hard white (HW) wheat moving into its crucial vegetative state, U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) and its state wheat commission member organizations have started weekly conference calls to share wheat condition reports. Overall, wheat in Central and Southern Plains entered 2024 in better condition than compared to the prior […]
New USDA Report Estimates Less Wheat Planting, More Ending Stocks
On March 28, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its yearly Prospective Plantings and quarterly Grains Stocks reports. The reports provide crucial insights to U.S. wheat importers as we enter the concluding months of the 2023/24 marketing year and look ahead to the 2024 harvest. This article will analyze USDA’s recent reports on […]
Wheat Price Perspectives: A Look at Long-Term Trends
Over the last year, world wheat prices have trended steadily lower, continuing their fall from the highs hit in May of 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine. Ample wheat stocks from Russia and record exports flowing from the Black Sea continue to weigh on global wheat prices. The average world FOB price has decreased $32/MT from […]
Setting the Stage for the 2024/25 World Wheat Crop
As March begins, world wheat markets look to new information that may provide a glimpse into what the 2024/25 marketing year brings. As northern hemisphere winter wheat crops break dormancy, weather becomes increasingly important. Meanwhile, southern hemisphere farmers shift their focus to spring crops and the winter wheat planting season. While world crop updates will […]
USDA Outlook Forum Provides First Glimpse into 2024/25 U.S. Wheat Balance Sheet
As the southern hemisphere wheat harvest nears completion and world anticipates the next northern crop, many buyers, mill owners, and end-product manufacturers are considering purchasing decisions that will affect their businesses into the first quarter of marketing year 2024/25. With forward thinking in mind, USDA released its latest Grains and Oilseeds Outlook on Feb. 15, […]
Early Optimism Blooms for 2024 U.S. Winter Wheat Production
Drought in major U.S. wheat-growing regions over the past few years is well-documented. The persistent dry conditions acutely impacted U.S. wheat yield and increased abandonment, with 2023/24 production coming in 6% below the pre-drought five-year average. Now, entering the second half of the marketing year, the focus has shifted to the 2024 harvest and its […]
USW Analyst Shares Global Wheat Market Summary with Farmer Directors
U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) Market Analyst Tyllor Ledford compiles a comprehensive “World Wheat Supply and Demand” summary for three USW Board of Directors meetings each year. Using the USDA World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report as her primary source, Ledford prepared the attached market summary for the USW Winter Board Meeting in Washington, […]
U.S. Wheat Export Basis Levels Support On-Going Competitiveness
During the summer of 2023, U.S. wheat export basis levels hovered near record lows as slow demand met seasonal weakness. Across almost all the U.S. wheat classes and export points, export basis levels hovered below average, signaling a unique pricing opportunity for U.S. wheat. Historical trends indicate that basis levels generally hit their lowest point […]
China’s Soft Red Winter Purchases: The Right Wheat at the Right Time
The purchase by China of 1.12 million metric tons (MMT) of U.S. soft red winter (SRW) wheat for delivery in 2023/24 between Dec. 4 and 8 is a significant and, in terms of its volume, somewhat unexpected factor in the current market. The buyers clearly took advantage of a price opportunity, yet there are other […]
Market Analyst Shares Crop Quality Seminar Experience, Customer Feedback
Following is USW Market Analyst Tyllor Ledford’s report on her participation in the 2023 Crop Quality Seminars. She appears on the left in the photo above with Regional Vice President for South and Southeast Asia Joe Sowers and Assistant Regional Director Joe Bippert at the Crop Quality Seminar in Bangkok, Thailand. For many, the month […]