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

Speaking of Wheat. “It has amazed me in my entire 30-plus years in the grain business how farmers never give up hope. It is a tribute to every farmer … that no matter how bad things get, they keep moving forward and look ahead to the following season, hoping for better results. That is why I have never left this business, because of the strength and determination farmers have, and I am honored to know so many of them.” — DTN Basis Analyst Mary Kennedy, from a column in Progressive Farmer, December 27, 2021.

2022 EU Production Estimate. World Grain reported this week that the European trade association Cocereal expects wheat production in the European Union (EU) to decline in 2022 by more than 3 million metric tons (MMT) compared to 2021. In its first forecast for the 2022 EU+UK grain crop, Coceral projected wheat output at 139.8 MMT, down slightly from the previous year mainly due to a return to average yields in the Balkan region.

“Cracking Open China’s Wheat Import Quota.” China imports wheat but at a volume less than half of what is allowed under a quota system first established when China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001. A recent study by USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) looks at China’s past procedures for allocating quotas to its prospective importers and revealed that … “demand for imported wheat often exceeded what was typically awarded. ERS’ analysis of China’s wheat import data suggests that import volume in 2021 is poised to reach that quota for the first time in two decades.”

Wheat Marketing Center Searches for Executive Director. The Wheat Marketing Center (WMC) is looking for an Executive Director. WMC is a dynamic and multifaceted non-profit research and technical training entity that promotes multiple classes of U.S. wheat by demonstrating their quality and functionality in end products. Learn about the position and how to apply here.

2022 Northern Crops Institute Courses. The Northern Crops Institute (NCI) in Fargo, N.D. has available courses in 2022 for online and in-person instruction, including the Pasta Production and Technology course in April. Learn more about NCI courses and how to register here.

2022 IGP Institute Flour Milling Course Schedule. The IGP Institute in Manhattan, Kan., has several upcoming flour milling and grain processing courses available in 2022. Courses in this curriculum area cover aspects of managing the flour milling process, from grain selection to finished products. Learn more about IGP Institute courses and how to register here.

Subscribe to USW Reports. USW publishes various reports and content that are available to subscribe to, including a bi-weekly newsletter highlighting recent Wheat Letter blog posts, 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. “The market is panicking but rightly so. Balance sheets globally were relying on a big Aussie milling wheat crop to cover until new crop Northern Hemisphere [arrived]. I guess the rally in Aussie prices is overdone but prices won’t go back down to where they were a month ago until maybe the end of Q1 and assuming Northern Hemisphere crops are all looking good.” – An Australian wheat trader quoted in a Nov. 23 “AgriCensus” article titled “Australia’s WA Wheat Market Explodes as Protein Levels Disappoint.”

Condolences to our colleague Chang Yoon (CY) Kang, Country Director, USW/Seoul, and his family on the recent passing of his mother.

Congratulations to our colleague Dalton Henry, USW Vice President of Policy, and his wife Sarah on their new baby boy, Samuel Walter Henry, born Nov. 18, 2021.

A “Dizzying” Market. Reuters reported this week that “benchmark wheat traded in Chicago climbed to a nine-year peak late last month, while prices at ports in Russia, the world’s No. 1 supplier, and Australia, typically the fourth largest exporter, are at all-time highs. World food prices rose for a third straight month in October to reach a new 10-year peak, led by increases in cereals and vegetable oils, the UN food agency said. The dizzying price levels are alarming buyers who are still suffering from the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, with decade-high freight costs compounding their problem.”

“Hell in a Handbasket.” That is the title Rabobank chose for its November Agri Commodity Markets Research Outlook for 2022. “It is highly unlikely that food prices will go back to the five- or two-year averages in 2021 as commodity prices are now supported by inflation … high shipping costs, energy and fertilizer prices, as well as a shortage of labor in many countries,” the report stated. Rabobank predicts wheat prices will stabilize in the second half of 2022 assuming reduced demand for feed wheat.

Goyings Farms Top Ohio’s SRW Wheat Yield Contest. Congratulations to USW Past Chairman Doug Goyings and his son Jeremy, Paulding, Ohio, who produced the top yield in the state’s 2021 Wheat Yield Contest with an entry of 138.4 bushels. An “Ohio Country Journal” article described their intensive management of their soft red winter (SRW) wheat crop, to the use of fungicides and insecticides to protect the crop in the late spring and early summer. Read more.

Indian Government Spreads More Subsidy Joy to Farmers. Reuters reported Dec.1 that Indian fertilizer stocks jumped after a report the government plans to increase fertilizer subsidies to a record … in 2021-2022 to avoid shortages amid a sharp rise in global prices. India, the top urea importer, has already raised fertilizer subsidies twice in this fiscal year ending March 31, and the new figure is almost double the amount initially budgeted. Studies have shown that India’s massive production subsidies distort trade, causing annual losses of more than $500 million for U.S. wheat farmers.

2022/23 Winter Wheat Conditions. USDA/National Agricultural Statistics Service reported Nov. 30 that nationwide, 92 percent of the winter wheat acreage had emerged by Nov. 28, equal to last year but 1 percentage point ahead of the 5-year average. As of Nov. 28, forty-four percent of the 2022 winter wheat acreage was reported in good to excellent condition, unchanged from the previous week but 2 percentage points below the same time last year.

Cereal & Grain Sciences Events Calendar. Dr. M. Hikmet Boyacioglu, an Applications Development Specialist with KPM Analytics, updates a calendar of cereal and grain sciences industry events every month. Contact Dr. Boyacioglu to receive the calendar link each month via email.

Subscribe to USW Reports. USW publishes various reports and content that are 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 have all lost a colleague and a friend this week. Craig Morris truly was an outstanding person who dedicated his life to improving wheat quality and being an innovator. He loved his work and had a passion for it that is rare and was truly a gift to the wheat and pulse community.” Alecia M. Kiszonas, PhD, Cultivar Development Manager, USDA-ARS Western Wheat & Pulse Quality Lab.

U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) Submitted Comments to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) for the annual National Trade Estimates (NTE) report on October 27. USTR uses these comments to develop that office’s annual NTE report released in the Spring. The NTE report allows the U.S. industry to highlight trade challenges impacting their industry to the U.S. government. USW highlighted key barriers for wheat exports, such as sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS), export subsidies, and excessive domestic support. Read USW’s NTE submission for 2021 here.

Mississippi River Supply Chain Recovering. World Grain recently reported that downbound grain barges and unloads have slowly ramped back up since late September following substantial damage from Hurricane Ida. The article suggested this is a “timely recovery” as grain harvest in the Midwest was imminent. Soybeans and other grains typically move through the center-Gulf at New Orleans, whereas hard red winter wheat shipments for export move through the Texas Gulf, which saw minimal damage from the hurricane. Read more here.

Change in the Weather. The U.S. Drought Monitor reported on October 26 that a recent series of recent storms provided above-normal precipitation across much of the West, including the Pacific Northwest, California … across eastern portions of the northern and central Plains, the southern Great Lakes … and a band of precipitation from southeast Kansas to eastern Kentucky. While helpful, the rain has not knocked down drought conditions that persist across western U.S. wheat growing regions.

U.S. Wheat Associates Publishes Commercial Sales every Thursday, documenting wheat export sales-to-date by country and class for the current marketing year compared to the previous marketing year on the same date. The report includes a 10-year commercial sales history by class and country. USW sources data from the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service Weekly Export Sales Report. Read the latest report on the USW website.

Subscribe to USW Reports. USW publishes various reports and content that are 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. “…While the [wheat] charts are showing some signs of stabilization (maybe…), they need a bullish input to re-start the rally, which…may, or may not…develop for a while. I mentioned the reports coming out [Sept. 30]. They could easily be market movers, and not necessarily what you hope for, so …please make sure you’re comfortable with your marketing plans.” Dan Maltby, Risk Management Group, Chanhassen, Minn.

Today’s USDA Small Grains Annual Summary report offered a better understanding of how much hard red spring (HRS) wheat was not harvested for grain (abandoned or baled for animal feed) in 2021. The report indicated that about 12% of HRS planted area in South Dakota, Minnesota, North Dakota Montana was not harvested for grain, which compares to less than 2% not harvested in 2020. Total HRS production at 297.4 million bushels is down 44% from 2020 production. Durum production is down 46% from 2020 levels. USDA pegged total U.S. soft white (SW) production at slightly more than 175 million bushels, which is down about 37% from 2020. U.S. hard red winter, soft red winter and hard white production increased in 2021 compared to 2020.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in a recent report stated that “for all principal field crops, a low level of carry-in stocks (beginning year inventories) combined with a substantial decrease in production is expected to result in a 25% decline in total supplies, which more-than offsets a sharp decline in exports and results in a further tightening of carry-out stocks to a record low level.”

From Kansas Wheat. “The fall fieldwork season is a flurry of activity as Kansas farmers harvest fall crops, eye the end of haying and put this year’s wheat crop in the ground. As they do, the U.S. grain supply chain is also hard at work, moving this year’s crop through an extensive network to destinations foreign and domestic. Tracking the ebb and flow of wheat through the U.S. wheat supply chain is yet another tool Kansas farmers can use in their grain marketing plans for the upcoming year.” Read more here.

GMO Wheat In the News. Reuters reported this week that Brazilian flour millers stated publicly that they are against processing imported wheat with a transgenic trait that helps the variety be more drought-tolerant. Commercialization of the transgenic variety in Argentina is contingent on Brazil’s approval of the variety. Reuters reported that the head of Abitrigo, the Brazilian Wheat Industry Association, said its members may stop buying wheat from Argentina if Brazil’s government approves imports of the variety.

Subscribe to USW Reports. USW publishes various reports and content that are 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.