News and Information from Around the U.S. Wheat Industry

Speaking of Wheat

“Overall, U.S. producers export more than 20 percent of what they produce, with numerous commodities exporting more than 70 percent of U.S. production. This underscores the importance of trade promotion programs contained in the farm bill … For U.S. producers to remain competitive in international markets in the face of high and rising foreign subsidies, tariffs, and non-tariff trade barriers of countries such as China, further investments in these [export market development] programs may well be required.” – U.S. House Committee on Agriculture “Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Views and Estimates Letter to the House Budget Committee.”

Reuters: Global Commodity Markets Remain Tentative

Reuters journalist Karl Plume on March 13 wrote that a patchwork of fixes and increased crop plantings around the world to counter the impact of war in Ukraine on global grain supplies are not enough to ward off further risks of disruption. “The world has had some time to patch some holes,” said Dan Basse, president of AgResource Co in Chicago, in the article. He cited larger-than-anticipated Russian wheat exports and the grain export corridor deal that allowed grain to be exported from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports. “If we don’t have another supply shock somewhere, the world can get by on the diminishment of Ukrainian grain,” said Basse. “But it’s tenuous. Things have to go right.” Read the entire story here.

Analyst: Wheat Prices Do Not Match Market Factors

Todd Hultman, lead analyst with DTN/Progressive Farmer, is perplexed by wheat prices relative to the very tight global supply situation and disruptive nature of the Russia/Ukraine conflict. In a recent article he compared the market situation today to 2013 when supply concerns pushed U.S. wheat prices to a level that, after factoring in inflation, would be higher than current prices. “You probably won’t be surprised to hear that, among the big three crops over the past 23 years, wheat prices have the least correlation to their supply situations,” Hultman wrote. “It pains me to say I don’t have a better explanation of why wheat prices are this low [relative to prices in 2013] …” Read Hultman’s entire analysis here.

Best Wishes to Terry Herman

USW Chief Technology Officer Terry Herman retired from U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) March 10 after 30 years of service. Over those years, Terry led USW’s evolution to digital communications and management systems. He built data base infrastructure essential for our work with USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service and reporting annual U.S. crop quality data. Terry created and maintained USW’s website www.uswheat.org for many years. And as our company’s “computer guy,” he kept his colleagues updated with the latest hardware and software. Most recently, he transitioned data management to “the cloud” and, in a very timely effort, introduced “Microsoft Teams” collaboration software to USW just weeks before the pandemic started. Everyone at USW thanks Terry for his service and friendship and wishes him well in retirement!

Wheat Growers Play Role in Climate Policy Debate

Red River Farm Network recently reported on the implications of what it called the changing dynamics surrounding climate change and farming. Ada, Minn., farmer Tate Petry, a member of the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) Environment Subcommittee, told the network that the wheat industry is challenged because it is so varied. “We have growers in Washington, Idaho and Oklahoma with practices that are so much different than what works for us, so that’s what we work on in NAWG, determining the implications of certain policy decisions growers and different classes of wheat.” Petry said the focus on climate-smart agriculture brings to the forefront the positive things already happening on the farm. Listen to the interview.

New NAWG Officers Elected

Brent Cheyne was elected NAWG President for 2023/24. Brent farms with his son Rodney near Klamath Falls, Ore., where they raise wheat, barley, oats, alfalfa, and cattle. In 2011, Cheyne served as president of the Oregon Wheat Growers League before accepting the position of NAWG Secretary in 2015. The newly elected slate of officers include: Keeff Felty from Oklahoma, Vice President; Pat Clements from Kentucky, Treasurer; Jamie Kress from Idaho, Secretary; and Nicole Berg from Washington state, Past President. Congratulations to these wheat farmer national leaders. Read more here.

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USW publishes various reports and content available to subscribe to, including a bi-weekly newsletter highlighting recent Wheat Letter blog posts and wheat industry news, the weekly Price Report, and the weekly Harvest Report (available May to October). Subscribe here.

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News and Information from Around the U.S. Wheat Industry

Speaking of Wheat

“Jim Pellman brings a broad skill set in agriculture and wheat production to the officer team at USW and follows earlier NDWC members who served as USW officers and Chairs during the past four decades: J. Ole Sampson of Lawton, Cecil Watson of Cavalier, Alan Lee of Berthold, and Brian O’Toole of Crystal, North Dakota.” Neal Fisher, Administrator, North Dakota Wheat Commission. Pellman was elected to serve as USW Secretary-Treasurer starting in July 2023 for 2023/24.

Photo Above: Wheat Leaders Greet Members of Congress

National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) President Nicole Berg (left) and U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) Chair Rhonda K. Larson (right) greet Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee (center) at the “Wheat 106” educational event and reception Jan. 13, 2023.  At the event, growers and industries engaged in wheat production and processing informed Members of Congress and their staff about how vast and important the wheat value chain is to the U.S. economy and food supply.

Snow Makes Grain

Over 2 meters (78 inches) of snow this winter has eased farmer Lee Lubbers’ moisture concerns about his South Dakota wheat crop. After a four month stretch last summer and fall with almost no measurable precipitation, “the snow will provide the moisture we need to get our [winter] wheat crop off to a good start. This was a big concern as 2022 came to an end,” Lubbers told Successful Farming. In 2022, South Dakota farmers produced about 1.1 million metric tons of hard red winter and hard red spring wheat.

Call for Entries in “Greater Grain” National Wheat Yield Contest

The National Wheat Yield Contest (NWYC) is accepting entries for 2023. Farmers growing winter, spring, irrigated or dryland wheat are encouraged to get their entries in now. There are a couple of changes to this year’s contest rules. There is now only one deadline and one price for entries per growing season. Winter wheat entries are due May 15, 2023, and spring wheat entries are due August 1, 2023. Read more here.

Congratulations to Dr. Brett Carver on Receiving OSU Eminent Faculty Award

“As leader of the Wheat Improvement Team, Dr. Carver has unparalleled success in the development of plant variety cultivars with a record five wheat varieties in 2020,” said Tom Coon, vice president and dean of Oklahoma State University’s college of agriculture. Carver collaborates with the Wheat Foods Council to advocate for wheat and to educate the public on wheat products through a video series. He served on trade team delegations for U.S. Wheat Associates and the Oklahoma Wheat Commission and has been named a Fellow in both the Crop Science Society of America and the American Society of Agronomy. Read an interview with Dr. Carver here.

Past Chair of House Ag Committee Named Wheat Leader

The National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) named U.S. Rep. David Scott (D-GA) its 2022 Wheat Leader of the Year Award for his work as the Chair of the House Agriculture Committee during the 117th Congress. “We appreciate all the work Rep. Scott does on behalf of wheat farmers and are proud to present him with the 2022 Wheat Leader of the Year Award,” said NAWG President and Washington wheat farmer Nicole Berg. NAWG also presented six other Members of Congress with its Wheat Advocate Award for their support in 2022. Read more here.

UK Farmer Sets Guinness World Record Wheat and Barley Yields

In 2022, United Kingdom grain grower Tim Lamyman, who farms 600 hectares in the county of Lincolnshire achieved a wheat yield of 17.96 metric tons (MT)/hectare (267 bu/acre), beating the previous record of 17.40 MT (259 bu/acre) from New Zealand farmer Eric Watson in 2020. He also registered a barley yield of 16.21 MT (310 bu/acre) to the hectare, beating his own world record by two metric tons. Read more here.

Research Shows Wheat is Good for Soil Health

Dr. Laura Van Eerd, professor of sustainable soil management at Canada’s University of Guelph-Ridgetown, has studied long-term soil characteristics and changes as part of research started in 1995. Of all treatment combinations, including wheat in a rotation has been the greatest factor in improved soil function over time, greatly increasing soil organic matter (SOM). Increasing organic matter in soils has implications for the soil’s water holding capacity and the soil’s nitrogen cycling capability. Listen to more in a Michigan State University Extension podcast.

USDA Funding Advances “Climate Smart” Farming

USDA is releasing the first $850 million in conservation program funding from the $18 billion provided by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to ramp up adoption of climate-smart farming practices. The new funding will be available through Environmental Quality Incentives Program, Conservation Stewardship Program, Agricultural Conservation Easement Program and Regional Conservation Partnership Program. Provisions in the IRA require the new funding to be targeted toward practices that can build soil carbon and otherwise reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Read more here.

Subscribe to USW Reports

USW publishes various reports and content available to subscribe to, including a bi-weekly newsletter highlighting recent Wheat Letter blog posts and wheat industry news, the weekly Price Report, and the weekly Harvest Report (available May to October). Subscribe here.

Follow USW Online

Visit our Facebook page for the latest updates, photos, and discussions of what is going on in the world of wheat. Also, find breaking news on Twitter, video stories on Vimeo and YouTube, and more on LinkedIn.

News and Information from Around the U.S. Wheat Industry

Speaking of Wheat

“Adoption of innovative agricultural technologies is critical to sustainably increase productivity, while reducing the environmental footprint of agricultural production. These breakthroughs can further reduce greenhouse gas emissions throughout the agricultural supply chain while bolstering food security throughout North America.” – From a statement by 17 agriculture groups urging U.S. Mexican and Canadian leaders to strengthen North American agricultural trade. Read more from “World Grain” here.

NAWG Annual Meeting and Commodity Classic

National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) will hold its annual meeting during Commodity Classic in Orlando, Fla., March 7-11, 2023. NAWG will review important policy and issues related to its advocacy for wheat growers’ interests in the 2023 Farm Bill. The conference will also include the NAWG President/PAC Reception and National Wheat Yield Contest Winners Reception. Read more here.

Grain Foods Foundation Names New Executive Director

Erin E. Ball was selected by the Grain Foods Foundation board of trustees to lead the group in its mission to serve the U.S. grain foods manufacturing, flour milling, and allied trades industries as the hub for science-based, grains-positive thought leadership and research funding and translation. For more information on Ball’s appointment and the Grain Foods Foundation, visit their website here.

Research Shows Effective Pathogen Control in Tempering

Energis Solutions™ has released results from a recent study confirming the effectiveness of its pathogen reduction technology, Guardian™ in reducing common pathogens found in the wheat tempering process. For more information, visit the Energis Solutions website.

Western Gulf Terminal Export News

CHS Inc. and Cargill recently announced they intend to incorporate Cargill’s Houston, Tex., grain terminal into their joint venture, TEMCO LLC that currently operates three facilities in the Pacific Northwest primarily serving Asia-Pacific region grain buyers. “We look forward to expanding our joint venture …,” said Sheryl Wallace, president of North America Grain for Cargill. “We are excited to provide additional market access and opportunities for our farmer customers and to better serve our global demand customers.” Read more here.

“Wheat Academy” Breeds Collaborative Research

Washington State University (WSU) recently sponsored a joint “Wheat Academy” bringing together wheat scientists, farmers and crop consultants to discuss changing challenges and encourage collaborative research solutions. “Wheat Academy lets growers and crop consultants learn the science behind many of the recommendations from WSU Extension,” said event organizer and Professor Drew Lyon. “It also helps scientists hear from them about what they’re seeing in the field, which can drive new research to address emerging problems.” Read more in this article from “Western Farmer-Stockman.”

 

Subscribe to USW Reports

USW publishes various reports and content available to subscribe to, including a bi-weekly newsletter highlighting recent Wheat Letter blog posts and wheat industry news, the weekly Price Report, and the weekly Harvest Report (available May to October). Subscribe here.

Follow USW Online

Visit our Facebook page for the latest updates, photos, and discussions of what is going on in the world of wheat. Also, find breaking news on Twitter, video stories on Vimeo, and more on LinkedIn.

Recent news and highlights from around the U.S. wheat industry.

Speaking of Wheat

“As far as wheat goes, Russian prices are at a very serious discount. I was personally hoping that the story about Russia’s wheat shipments now being identified as Ukrainian wheat would have caused a strengthening of ally and non-ally sentiments to avoid Russian wheat. I guess getting food bought is more important than politics. However, the decline in wheat has been so dramatic that it has found economic value domestically. We have heard of feedlots out west purchasing #2 hard red wheat for feed. That tells you that the wheat market relative to corn and other feed grains has found value.” – Bill Biedermann, Hedging strategist, AgMarket.Net, writing in Farm Futures.

2022 U.S. Holiday Office Schedule

Crossbreeding for Drought Tolerance

Crop Trust’s “wild relatives project” has developed a new drought-tolerant variety of durum wheat. The new wheat named “Jabal,” which means “mountain” in Arabic, was developed by farmers and crop scientists by crossing a commercial durum wheat with a wild relative from an arid region of Syria. The wild relatives project uses genetically diverse crop varieties to help develop more resilient and adaptive varieties of wheat, barley, rice, and potato that can withstand erratic and extreme weather conditions caused by climate change. Read more in The Guardian.

Satellite Imaging Quantifies Ukraine’s Wheat Harvest

U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Earth-observing satellites are deciphering some of the broad impacts of human conflict on the built and natural environment. On Dec. 2, NASA reported that satellite-based production numbers for the 2022 winter wheat crop in Ukraine suggest farmers had a largely successful harvest. The NASA Harvest team calculated a 26.6 million metric ton (MMT) wheat harvest in 2022, much higher than expected in leading forecasts. However, analysis showed that 5.8 MMT of wheat was harvested from areas that were not under Ukrainian control, likely benefiting Russian grain interests. Read more about the technology and outcome here.

Understanding USDA’s Export Sale Reporting Program

“Timely reporting and publishing of agricultural export sales data is key to effectively functioning markets. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is required by law to publicly release summary sales data obtained from U.S. exporters of many agricultural commodities” including U.S. wheat. Each week, U.S. exporters are required to report to USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) any sales transaction entered into with a buyer outside the United States. FAS publishes a weekly summary of export sales activity every Thursday at 8:30 a.m. ET, unless a change is announced, and provides the data USW uses to publish its Commercial Sales Report. Read more about the program here.

Wheat Foods Council “Kernels” Magazine

“What do wheat farmers do after the harvest?” That’s a question answered by several friends of USW in the Winter 2022 issue of Kernels, published by the Wheat Foods Council. Three past and current USW farmer directors from Minnesota, Kansas and North Dakota talk about the work that goes on to maintain equipment, market wheat and plan the next season’s crops while finding a bit more time to spend with family and friends. The Wheat Foods Council, like USW, is directed by farmers and funded by state wheat commission member organizations. It is an industry-wide partnership dedicated to increasing domestic wheat foods consumption through nutrition information, research, education and promotional programs.

Subscribe to USW Reports. 

USW publishes various reports and content available to subscribe to, including a bi-weekly newsletter highlighting recent Wheat Letter blog posts and wheat industry news, the weekly Price Report, and the weekly Harvest Report (available May to October). Subscribe here.

Follow USW Online

Visit our Facebook page for the latest updates, photos, and discussions of what is going on in the world of wheat. Also, find breaking news on Twitter, video stories on Vimeo, and more on LinkedIn.

Recent news and highlights from around the U.S. wheat industry.

 

Speaking of Wheat

“We are a family farm raising wheat for a global market, working diligently to be sustainable. Our desire is to share our slice of heaven with others while maintaining our farming heritage so that we can pass it to the next generation in a better state.” – The Heideman Family, Blown Away Ranch, Ione, Oregon

U.S. Thanksgiving Office and Publication Schedules

Thanksgiving is a time set aside as a U.S. holiday the last Thursday of November. The U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) Headquarters and West Coast Offices will be closed Thursday, Nov. 24 and Friday, Nov. 25. In addition, the next Wheat Letter newsletter will be sent December 1 but you can keep up with posts in the Wheat Letter Blog at https://www.uswheat.org/wheat-letter/. In addition, the USW Price Report will not be published Friday, Nov. 25.

U.S. Winter Wheat Ratings Improve Slightly

While most U.S. winter wheat is planted and fighting dry conditions to be established before dormancy, USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service reported a slight uptick in good to excellent crop conditions. Hard red winter and winter soft white wheat is off to a good start, industry sources say. Still, winter wheat conditions are still the lowest in many years at this time. At the USW Fall Board Meeting this week, farmers in Texas and Oklahoma said recent rain his keeping them from finishing their wheat planting, but they have several days available before they must declare “prevented planting” on those fields under USDA farm service programs. See the NASS report here.

Rail Labor Letter

With two unions voting not to ratify the tentative U.S. rail labor agreement and a Nov. 19 deadline for when a strike/lockout could occur, the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) and other members of an Agricultural Transportation Working Group sent a letter to Congress urging swift action to avert a rail strike. Read the industry letter here.

Can the UN Hold the Black Sea Grain Initiative Together?

Agri-Pulse reports that UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths has stated a commitment to removing the remaining obstacles to the exports of Russian food and fertilizer. He also stressed that negotiations would resume with Russia to try to assure that the deal that keeps millions of tons of Ukrainian grain exports flowing will not expire on Nov. 19. Government officials have not suggested that a deal to extend the Black Sea Grain Initiative and Russian demands for better access to international markets for its fertilizer are connected, but both have become a priority for the UN, which brokered the Initiative with Russia, Ukraine and Turkey.

USDA Drops U.S. Wheat Stocks But Increases Global Supply Estimate

USDA’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report for November not suggests lower U.S. ending stocks for 2022/23 based mostly on increased domestic use. USDA held the line on expected U.S. wheat exports at 21.09 million metric tons (MMT). Projected 2022/23 ending stocks would be the lowest level since 2007/08. U.S. wheat futures prices were down slightly midday on Nov. 10 following the report. The USDA’s latest global wheat outlook for 2022/23 is for increased supplies, consumption, trade, and ending stocks. Read more here and in the USW Supply and Demand Report.

South Dakota Cooperative Invests in EGT Export Business

World Grain reported that Agtegra Cooperative announced has finalized a minority stake in EGT, LLC, which operates an export grain terminal in Longview, Wash., on the Columbia River that is fed by four high-capacity elevators in Montana. “We are very excited to become a partner in EGT to provide Agtegra customers greater access to the global market,” said Agtegra CEO Jason Klootwyk. Read more here.

USW Board of Directors Meet

U.S. wheat farmers representing 17 state wheat commission member organizations on the USW Board of Directors met for their Fall meeting Nov. 6 to 9, 2022, in Salt Lake City, Utah. This was a joint board meeting with the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) and included two joint committee meetings on International Trade Policy and Wheat Innovation. The USW and NAWG boards of directors will hold their next joint meeting Jan. 30 to Feb. 3, 2023, in Washington, D.C.

Subscribe to USW Reports

USW publishes various reports and content available to subscribe to, including a bi-weekly newsletter highlighting recent Wheat Letter blog posts and wheat industry news, the weekly Price Report, and the weekly Harvest Report (available May to October). Subscribe here.

Follow USW Online

Visit our Facebook page for the latest updates, photos, and discussions of what is going on in the world of wheat. Also, find breaking news on Twitter, video stories on Vimeo, and more on LinkedIn.