Inputs and Profits: Current Conditions Prove There’s Nothing Magical About Farming Math
Kitchen table math can be a chore this time of year, as U.S. wheat farmers shovel their crop production costs into calculators, hoping the numbers they scoop out next year will be magically heavier than those they tossed in this year. But here’s a secret about the math of farming: it isn’t really magic. “There’s […]
2023 Hard Red Spring Crop Offers Familiar Dough Strength, Improved Baking Functions
The 2023 U.S. hard red spring (HRS) crop was produced under a wide range of growing conditions. A late spring delayed planting but the early moisture helped establish the crop. Then conditions across the region turned hot and dry with only spotty areas of rain. The rain returned and delayed mid- to late-harvest. Ultimately, total […]
2023 Hard Red Winter Crop: Unexpected Production; Excellent Quality
The 2023 U.S. hard red winter (HRW) growing season saw a mixed bag of conditions from another severe drought in the southern and central Great Plains to nearly ideal rain and temperatures in the northern plains and Pacific Northwest (PNW). Total production, while still quite low historically, reached 16.4 million metric tons (MMT), a 13% […]
Farmers Overcome Hot, Dry Season to Produce Highly Functional Soft White Wheat
“It was a challenging year,” said Oregon farmer David Brewer of the 2023 soft white (SW) wheat production season. “However, I believe that our investments into variety development and adoption of sustainable management practices have helped us ensure the best functionality from the 2023 crop.” Seeding conditions were good in the fall of 2022 with […]
Final Harvest Report Confirms High Quality Northern Durum Crop
The 2023 U.S. wheat harvest has ended and U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) published its final weekly Harvest Report Oct. 6. This year’s first Harvest Report appeared May 19 and was published every Friday afternoon (Eastern Time) throughout the season with updates and comments on harvest progress, crop conditions for hard red winter (HRW), soft red […]
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Helps Break Ground on New Agricultural Research Service Facility
Federal officials including U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack joined Washington state lawmakers and university leaders in early August for the groundbreaking of a new U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) Plant Sciences Building on the Washington State University (WSU) campus in Pullman. ARS is USDA’s “in-house research agency” focused on delivering scientific solutions […]
The Wheat Marketing Year in Review
Final export commitment data for marketing year (MY) 2022/23 that ended May 31 is now available, providing an overview of the year’s export and demand trends. In this article, we will look back on the MY 2022/23 demand trends and current MY 2023/24 data to provide context for the year to come as the world […]
War Disruptions and Logistics Incentivize Imported European Wheat
The news that U.S. flour milling companies have imported European wheat has raised concerns and frustrations for U.S. wheat stakeholders. To an organization like U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) that with our state wheat commission members promotes exports on behalf of U.S. wheat farmers, such news is particularly disappointing. After all, U.S. farmers produce enough wheat […]
USDA Reports Provides First Look Into 2023/24 Crop Year
On May 12, USDA released its initial estimates for the 2023/24 marketing year (MY) year, providing the first glimpse into how the world wheat situation has shifted in response to political instability, inflation, climate variability, and the volatility seen in the last year. This article will examine key takeaways from the World Agricultural Supply and […]
Wheat Industry News
News and Information from Around the Wheat Industry Speaking of Wheat “The ongoing fighting [in Sudan] is preventing WFP from delivering critical emergency food, providing school meals for children, or preventing and treating malnutrition. WFP also cannot carry out its work to support farmers to boost agriculture productivity in a project that aims to more […]