Precision Agriculture Advances Sustainable Wheat Production
By Steve Mercer, USW Vice President of Communications No two wheat fields in the world are alike. The fact is, there can be wide variations within a field or even a very small sections of a field. Not that long ago, farmers had limited ability to change production strategies in ways that more directly correlated […]
Meet the USW Technical Experts: Peter Lloyd – International Man of Milling
Name: Peter Lloyd Title: Regional Technical Director Office: USW Middle Eastern, East and North African Region, Casablanca Office Providing Service to: North Africa and the Middle East Peter Lloyd’s eyes lit up the moment he saw the MIAG pilot flour mill and baking lab at Mennel Milling‘s Fostoria, Ohio, plant. Lloyd, who was with U.S. Wheat […]
Meet the USW Technical Experts: Ivan Goh – An Energetic Individual Born to the Food Industry
Name: Kong Song “Ivan” Goh Title: Biscuit/Bakery and Noodle Technologist Office: USW South Asia Regional Office, Singapore Providing Service to: Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Republic of the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam Regional Profile: Rapidly rising disposable income and urbanization in South Asia are opening markets for baked goods, biscuits, cakes, and other foods […]
Wheat Growers See Challenges and Promise in African Markets
By Steve Mercer, USW Vice President of Communications Things have changed in Nigeria’s flour milling industry. Members of a U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) Board Team meeting with millers in Lagos recently learned more about how the West African nation’s economy and consumer preferences are forcing mills to reduce costs and produce a wider range […]
A Risky Proposition
By Steve Mercer, USW Vice President of Communications Two recent market articles by Reuters have caught our attention here at U.S. Wheat Associates (USW). At first glance, the Aug. 20 story “Russian Traders May Speed Up Grain Exports Amid Risks of Curbs,” and the Aug. 22 story “Global Wheat Supply to Crisis Levels; Big China […]
A Welcome Look at Hybrid Wheat Research
By Steve Mercer, USW Vice President of Communications Several colleagues from U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) had a great experience on May 16 on a visit to Bayer Corporation’s main North American wheat breeding laboratory and nursery near Lincoln, Neb. They had a true look at the future, one that includes a more stable supply of […]
Latest USDA Forecast Accounts for Increased U.S. Wheat Export Demand
By Steve Mercer, USW Vice President of Communications USDA market analysts cited Iraq’s major purchase of hard red winter (HRW) wheat as the specific basis for a significant drop in U.S. ending stocks in the November World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report. The report correspondingly put its total U.S. export forecast for 2017/18 […]
Cuba’s Recovery from Another Hurricane Should be Eased by an End to the U.S. Embargo
By Steve Mercer, USW Vice President of Communications The aftermath of Hurricane Irma is simply stunning. So many of our Caribbean neighbors are facing so much destruction, including in Cuba where the full fury of Irma raked the northern coastline as a Category 5 hurricane that killed at least 10 people and flooded central Havana. […]
Rail and Port Operation Recovery in Texas Gulf is Encouraging
By Steve Mercer, USW Vice President of Communications Officials have classified it as a 1,000-year flood event, unleashed at the center of U.S. HRW wheat’s export industry. Following the catastrophic flooding from Hurricane Harvey, some ports are still closed, rail embargos remain in effect and virtually no wheat was inspected for export last week at […]
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 […]
