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Wheat Industry News

Recent news and highlights from around the wheat industry.

Speaking of Wheat: “Innovation in agriculture and food is the key to global food security; the world has to stop farming with systems that my grandfather gave up on 125 years ago. Innovation is an imperative — and it’s not just needed [in the United States], but around the world.” Ambassador Kip Tom, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture in Rome and a seventh-generation farmer from Indiana.

Congratulations. Andrés Saturno and his wife Berenice “Bere” recently welcomed their first child, a baby boy, Alessio Massimiliano Saturno Ramos, 7 lbs, 9 oz, on February 19, 2020. Andrés is a Technical Specialist in the USW Santiago Office. Everyone is healthy and doing well.

China Lifts Some Trade Barriers in ‘Phase One.’ China has begun making policy changes and will soon be accepting applications for tariff exemptions as part of its agreements under the “phase one” trade pact with the United States, the Trump administration announced Tuesday, February 25. Imports of a wide variety of commodities will be eligible, including wheat, soybeans, pork, corn, whey, oranges, cherries, sorghum, soy oil and beef. Read more here.

Coronavirus Could Prevent China from Meeting $80B Agriculture Trade Pledge. With the phase one trade deal with China in effect for just under three weeks, agricultural experts fear the coronavirus outbreak will impede China’s ability to buy a promised $80 billion in farm goods from the United States over the next two years. Read more here.

Ancient Wheat Genome Reveals Clues to the Agricultural Past. A museum sample of a 3,000-year-old Egyptian crop plant yields genomic information that helps researchers track the plant’s domestication and migration reports “The Scientist.” The museum wheat, which carbon dating showed was from between 1130 and 1000 BC, was genetically much more similar to modern domesticated varieties than to modern wild ones, suggesting that the plant lineage the samples came from had already been domesticated. Read more here.

2020 National Wheat Yield Contest. On February 18, 2020, the National Wheat Foundation (NWF) officially opened the 2020 National Wheat Yield Contest. Farmers can submit entries in winter wheat and spring wheat with subcategories for dryland and irrigated. NWF is accepting entries for winter wheat from April 1 and May 15, and entries for spring wheat from June 15 to August 1.

Farmers Join Forces for Sustainability and Responsible Climate Policy. The National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) joined twenty farm and ranch groups representing millions of U.S. farmers and ranchers to launch Farmers for a Sustainable Future (FSF), a coalition committed to environmental and economic sustainability. This coalition will serve as a primary resource for lawmakers and policymakers considering climate policies. FSF’s guiding principles call for policies that support science-based research, voluntary incentive-based conservation programs, investment in infrastructure, and solutions that ensure vibrant rural communities and a healthy planet. Read the group’s recent release here.

Oklahoma Governor’s Wheat Challenge. The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture (ODA), working with the Oklahoma Wheat Commission (OWC) and the Oklahoma State University (OSU) Wheat Improvement Team recently featured the first ever State of Oklahoma’s Governor’s Wheat Challenge in an event at the ODA headquarters March 3. Wheat industry representatives welcomed Governor Kevin Stitt and Lt. Governor Matt Pinnell as they checked on respective wheat plots planted in their names last November in front of the agency’s headquarters, and to get an update from OWC Executive Director Mike Schulte on the marketing and research aspects of Oklahoma’s wheat industry. Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture Ms. Blayne Arthur called it “a very exciting day for Oklahoma’s wheat industry,” with a friendly competition between the Governor and Lt. Governor spotlighting two newer wheat varieties developed by the Wheat Breeding Team led by Dr. Brett Carver of OSU. The wheat plots will be harvested and evaluated for flour and baking qualities. Read more here.

IGP Institute Milling Courses. The IGP Institute in Manhattan, Kan., has announced a series of milling courses in its upcoming summer schedule, including two Buhler-KSU Executive Milling courses (one in English and on in Spanish), as well as an IAOM-KSU Introduction to Flour Milling course. Click here to register and for more information on these courses.

Subscribe to USW Reports. USW publishes a variety of 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 page at https://www.facebook.com/uswheat for the latest updates, photos and discussions of what is going on in the world of wheat. Also, find breaking news on Twitter at https://twitter.com/uswheatassoc and video stories on Vimeo at https://vimeo.com/uswheatassociates.

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A Legacy of Commitment – Western Wheat Associates Develops Asian Markets

By Steve Mercer, USW Vice President of Communications

Wheat farmers in post-World War II United States were producing more wheat than ever before. So, to improve marketing opportunities, they organized and reached out to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for help. These visionary state wheat leaders ultimately formed two regional organizations to coordinate export market development: Western Wheat Associates and Great Plains Wheat Market Development Association.

In the first of a series on the “Legacy of Commitment,” Wheat Letter offers historical perspective on the founding of Western Wheat Associates and its activities. Future posts will focus on Great Plains Wheat, and how the two organizations evolved together into one national export market development organization.

Homesteaders in the semi-arid region of eastern Washington state and Oregon slowly started growing wheat to supply flour for mining camps in the mid-1800s. These growers soon found a route to new overseas markets via the Snake and Columbia river system, though not initially to Pacific rim countries. Early histories of the region’s grain trade include news of a full cargo of wheat loaded in Portland, Ore., on a British vessel bound for Liverpool in 1868.

That trade with Britain and domestic West Coast markets continued to grow into the 20th Century. The first indication of Asian market trade dates to 1906 when Japan’s Masuda Flour Milling Co. imported flour from Centennial Mills in Spokane, Wash.

The effort to build greater demand for wheat at home and abroad took wing in 1926 at a meeting hosted by the Oregon Agricultural College extension service in Moro, Ore., where wheat farmers decided to form the Eastern Oregon Wheat League. In 1945, that organization asked its state government to create a wheat “commission” with the power to “tax” each bushel of wheat entering commercial channels to fund wheat promotional activities. The Oregon Wheat Commission (OWC) was established in 1947 (see photo below) and in 1949 sent representatives to Japan who reported “great opportunities for trade,” depending on the ability of Pacific Northwest (PNW) farmers “to establish a productive relationship with flour millers and provide high-quality wheat at a competitive price.”

Photo from “Kernels and Chaff; A History of Wheat Market Development.”

In the book “Kernels and Chaff; A History of Wheat Market Development,” Marx Koehnke wrote that “these Oregonians had established a unique approach to self-help… It was a revolutionary and challenging idea” that “in turn resulted in other states exploring and adopting similar plans.”

In the PNW, Washington state and Idaho soon established their own state commissions and began cooperating with the OWC to promote the region’s soft white (SW) wheat in overseas markets. Surplus U.S. production was poised to meet growing demand for food in a post-war world. Farmers took a key step in 1956 when the Oregon Wheat Growers League opened the first U.S. wheat office in Tokyo. Commissions from Washington state established relationships with India and Pakistan, joined by agreements with the Nebraska Wheat Growers Association and the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS).

According to “Western Wheat Associates, The First Twenty Years,” by Richard K. Baum, PNW farm leaders met with farmers from the Plains in early 1959 to discuss establishing working relationships between the regions and export promotion plans. With Plains growers indicating they planned to promote hard red winter (HRW) wheat in “Far East and South Asia markets, if permitted,” the PNW state commissions decided to unify export activities.

In Pendleton, Ore., on April 23, 1959, Western Wheat Associates, U.S.A., Inc., was created. Officers were elected and a board of farmer directors from the PNW states was appointed. Baum was selected to serve as executive vice president, a position later changed to president that he would hold until U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) was formed in 1980. The organization’s headquarters office was established in Portland.

A Different World

In many ways, Western Wheat Associates (WWA) operated for 20 years in a global wheat market and trade policy environment that few in the trade today would recognize. In 1954, for example, the U.S. federal government established Public Law (PL) 480, allowing food-deficient countries to pay for U.S. food imports in their own currencies instead of in U.S. dollars. The law helped the United States create the environment for exports of surplus agricultural products while supporting so-called “friendly” nations as the Cold War intensified.

Under the early PL480 program, the government purchased U.S. wheat and sold it to designated countries including India, Pakistan and South Korea. WWA received matching funds from the PL480 program to help facilitate the transactions, acting in a sense as the U.S. government’s service representative in in those countries.

Wheat supply and price management ruled both international and domestic U.S. wheat policies during WWA’s existence. As early as 1933, wheat exporting and importing countries formed an “International Wheat Agreement” to help “adjust the supply of wheat to effective world demand and eliminate the abnormal surpluses which have been depressing the wheat market” and to stabilize prices. Similar price and supply agreements continued well into the 1990s that were, in effect, efforts to control the international wheat market.

Through the 1960s and into the early 1970s, U.S. policy supported international agreements to export wheat at a “world price” but also attempted to protect farmers and the grain trade from rapid changes in prices. Production quotas were established. Subsidies incentivized farmers not to plant too much wheat or other crops or paid farmers when cash prices fell below minimum levels. Export subsidies were established to allow grain traders to sell at agreed-to world prices with minimal risk.

Even in importing countries that were not designated as PL480 markets, which WWA and the trade referred to as “cash” markets, government agencies were charged with importing food commodities, a situation that put significant weight in the transaction on the per-metric-ton price of U.S. wheat. Much of the early WWA development work in PL480 and “cash” markets focused on introducing wheat foods to primarily rice-eating cultures.

Even before WWA was formed, PNW wheat farmers were working with Japanese officials to introduce bread to school lunch programs, allowing Japanese children to enjoy the taste and nutrition of a new type of food. Photo from U.S. Wheat Associates archive.

Building the Case for U.S. Wheat

Sales of U.S. wheat continued to increase as WWA expanded its staff and activities. Eventually, wheat farmer organizations from Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado and Texas became members of WWA or contracted with WWA to represent their wheat supplies. Working under contract with the U.S. government and Great Plains Wheat (GPW), WWA developed markets in Asia for the SW class grown in the PNW, for hard red spring (HRS) grown in Montana and North Dakota, and HRW grown in the Plains states. Great Plains Wheat (GPW) had a similar cooperator relationship with USDA as WWA and its state wheat organization members, representing their interests in Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

WWA worked from offices in Tokyo, Delhi, Karachi, Manila and eventually Taipei, Singapore and Seoul. Limited records of specific activities make it difficult to list the many market development activities implemented by WWA over the years. In addition to introducing wheat foods, more familiar trade activities included: participation in trade shows; sending trade delegations of farmers and government representatives to overseas markets to promote U.S. wheat and to evaluate market potential; and bringing buyers and flour millers to the PNW and Northern Plains.

A luncheon at the American Club in Tokyo in April 1971 with USDA and Japanese officials and WWA representatives commemorated the Japanese purchase of more than 100 million bushels (more than 2.7 million metric tons) of U.S. wheat. Photo from “Kernels and Chaff; A History of Wheat Market Development.”

The work certainly had unique challenges that WWA had to maneuver. For example, the organization and its state members worked with the U.S. government to improve grade standards for U.S. wheat in the 1960s. Information from customers, especially from Japan, about high levels of sprout damage were shared with growers, wheat breeders and other researchers. WWA even took dock worker union leaders to Asian markets to demonstrate the broad economic effects of U.S. wheat trade. All these efforts and more were focused not only on building demand, but also on building a case that customers could count on the U.S. wheat export supply system.

In 1975, U.S. President Gerald R. Ford met with a joint meeting of WWA and GPW in Vail, Colo., and discussed the wheat leaders’ approach to longshoreman labor negotiations. Photo from U.S. Wheat Associates archive.

It was government intervention, however good intentioned, that greatly endangered the reliable reputation of the United States as a grain supplier. In 1972, the Soviet Union took advantage of U.S. government guarantees of low wheat export prices and a politically motivated offer of credit guarantees to quickly purchase massive volumes of U.S. wheat. The Soviet purchases coincided with low production in other exporting countries and created a supply shock that literally doubled world wheat prices in just a few weeks. Established customers such as Japan were unprepared for the supply and price problems that followed. Interventions continued in the 1970s including an embargo on U.S. soybean exports to Japan and the U.S. grain export embargo following the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan in 1980.

Yet, the farmers who established WWA and the people the organization hired to represent their interests persevered. The legacy they, and the people who started and ran GPW, created lived on through WWA’s existence and continues even today through U.S. Wheat Associates and its 17 state wheat commission members and board of directors.

Photo from “Kernels and Chaff; A History of Wheat Market Development.”

WWA’s Richard K. Baum captured the enduring spirit of the organization as he wrote to his board about “The First Twenty Years” of WWA.

“It has been my privilege, and an unusual one at that, to have served throughout this entire period as chief executive officer of Western Wheat Associates. Many of our staff people have also served for 18 and 19 years. Our personnel record is a stable one. Our employees, particularly those overseas, feel they are a part of a close-knit family and work as hard for you wheat producers as they would if this were their own business.”

“Those of us who have worked with you [farmers] believe fully in the goal of obtaining a fair return to the farmer for his investment, management and labor. We admire his dedication and unselfish service. We believe your leadership as evidenced by these past board Chairman have been outstanding.”

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Sources for this post include:

Read other stories in this series:

Great Plains Wheat Focused on Improving Quality and HRW Markets
Evolution of a Public-Private Partnership
The U.S. Wheat Export Public-Private Partnership Today
NAWG, USW Lead the Way Through Issues Affecting Wheat Farmers

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U.S. Wheat Associates Launches New Price Charting Tools

By Claire Hutchins, USW Market Analyst

Navigating U.S. export markets and making purchasing decisions is a complicated, risk-involved process, especially when wheat customers have so many options for sourcing their supplies. As representatives of the U.S. wheat industry, U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) recognizes it has a social contract to ensure our customers have access to accurate, unbiased price information to help them make timely buying decisions.

One of the ways USW has done that over many decades is by publishing a weekly Price Report on Friday afternoon that gives the world’s buyers an independently derived baseline of export prices for U.S. wheat by class, protein level, export region and delivery month. This report provides an independent assessment of weekly export prices across a broad segmentation of the U.S. wheat sector and delivers independent estimates of export basis and export prices based on industry surveys.

USW recently launched new Price Charting Tools based on Price Report data to help overseas customers visualize current and historic U.S. wheat FOB prices and export basis values by export region, class, protein level and date. The Price Charting Tools, found on the USW website, also feature wheat futures prices by date and grain exchange. Customers can also chart FOB and basis spreads between different classes, protein levels and export regions.

“The new charting tools are valuable resources for overseas buyers to view historical price trends of four of the six wheat classes produced in the United States,” says Mike Spier, USW Vice President of Overseas Operations. “USW’s new charting tools will give buyers valuable insight by showing them how past changes in the U.S. and world wheat supply and demand situation influenced U.S. wheat prices.”

These new graphing tools link users to the most detailed, public database of historic U.S. wheat FOB and export basis levels.

“Not only can users look back at historical market behavior as one clue toward looking to and anticipating future action, but they can also look at a breadth of historical value relationships including intra wheat class relationships and winter wheat class protein level spreads,” says USW President Vince Peterson. “This is one exceptional tool for wheat buyers that are trying to analyze and select the value proposition best offered and delivered by the various U.S. wheat classes.”

To access USW’s new Price Charting Tools directly, click here. To access the Price Charting Tools from anywhere on the USW website, click “Price Charting Tools” under the Market and Crop Information menu at the top of the page. For more information on the USW Price Report, click here.

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Dependable People: A Spotlight on the Ohio Small Grains Checkoff

For 40 years, U.S. wheat farmers have supported U.S. Wheat Associates’ (USW) efforts to work directly with buyers and promote their six classes of wheat. Their contributions to state wheat commissions, who in turn contribute a portion of those funds to USW, qualifies USW to apply for export market development funds managed by USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service. Currently, 17 state wheat commissions are USW members and this series highlights those partnerships and the work being done state-by-state to provide unmatched service. Behind the world’s most reliable supply of wheat are the world’s most dependable people – and that includes our state wheat commissions.

Member: Ohio Small Grains Checkoff
USW Member since 2010

Location: Delaware, Ohio
Classes of wheat grown: Soft Red Winter
USW Leadership: Doug Goyings, 2019/20 Chairman

The Ohio Small Grains Checkoff identifies opportunities to add value to Ohio’s small grains crops, including wheat, barley, rye and oats. Checkoff programs focus on exports, water quality, research, education and promotion, domestic demand and consumer outreach. We base our work on the belief that exports are vital for Ohio’s farmers and the state’s economic development.

2018/19 Chairman Chris Kolstad from Montana (R) passes the gavel to 2019/20 Chairman Doug Goyings from Ohio.

Why is export market development important to Ohio wheat farmers and why do they continue to support USW and its activities?

Ohio farmers value overseas markets for grain. We produce a quality product that is affordable and meets the demand from a growing world. We must continue developing relationships with overseas buyers and U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) helps to accomplish that task for Ohio farmers.

Ohio is a soft red winter (SRW) wheat state. The nature of SRW is ideal for baking pastries, cookies, crackers and soft breads. With Mexico’s demand for SRW, with Brazil being another huge market, Ohio’s production is very important to our overall export strength for this commodity.

A trade delegation from Brazil visiting Stover Farm in Shelby, Ohio in 2019.

How have Ohio wheat farmers recently connected with overseas customers?

From hosting international trade missions on Ohio farms, to participating in foreign trade missions, Ohio farmers continue to help build relationships that will lead to open and honest communication with potential buyers of our wheat. USW is one of our most critical partners in these efforts – connecting our growers with the consumers they serve around the globe.

Most recently, Mexico’s third largest wheat milling operation sourced equivalents to rail car units from Ohio. We stand ready to support the international demand, especially to our closest neighbors.

What’s happening lately in Ohio that overseas customers should know about?

  • The Ohio Small Grains Checkoff is organizing an “Ohio Wheat Profitability Summit”. The goal is to increase planted acres by sharing research and practices that drive profit for SRW.
  • Ohio’s wheat farmers are on the front lines in addressing water quality issues in Ohio and the Great Lakes region. We believe our growers, and our products, provide tremendous value to efforts to reduce nutrient loading into the lakes. Our growers are actively supporting the H2Ohio effort which is driving higher adoption of best management practices on our fields.
  • Ohio Small Grains staff and board members are participating in the Wheat Quality Council’s meetings in Wooster, Ohio, with the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Soft Wheat Quality Laboratory. The Ohio delegation will network with researchers, millers, and bakers during the event. In addition, they will provide a session to discuss challenges in Ohio wheat production.

Learn more about Ohio Small Grains Checkoff  on its website here and on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Several Ohio wheat farmers at the 2020 Wheat 104 reception during the USW-NAWG Joint Winter Board Meeting in Washington, D.C.

USW technical staff at USDA-ARS Soft Wheat Quality Laboratory in 2016.

In 2017, Ohio wheat farmer Rachael Vonderhaar traveled with USW on a board delegation tour to Haiti, Mexico, Chile and Ecuador.

2019/20 Chairman Doug Goyings welcomes attendees to the 2019 USW Japan Buyers Conference.

 

 

 

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An Inside Look at IGP’s Flour Milling Short Course for Commissioners

The IGP Institute serves Kansas and U.S. agriculture through its global education center housed in the Grain Science Complex on the Kansas State University campus in Manhattan. Its mission is to provide technical, research-based training benefiting industry professionals globally and enhancing the market preference for U.S. grains and oilseeds. The emphasis is on educational and technical programs supporting promotion and export market development efforts.

From Feb. 25 to 27, 2020, four colleagues from U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) participated in an IGP short course on flour milling for wheat commissioners (farmers and grain trade representatives who serve on the boards of state wheat commissions) and staff.  IGP tries to hold this course annually to educate members of the U.S. wheat industry in the basic principles of flour milling through classroom lecture and hands-on practical training in the Kansas State University milling and baking laboratories and the Hal Ross Flour Mill.

Here is an inside look at this fun and very enlightening course that has built, and will continue to build, greater empathy for and connections with overseas flour milling and wheat food processors among U.S. wheat farmers and grain traders.

Participants in the 2020 milling short course were (left to right around the table): Mark Fowler, Vice President of Global Technical Services, USW , and co-instructor; Amanda Hoey, Chief Executive Officer, Oregon Wheat Commission, Portland, Ore.; Nathan Larson, a wheat farmer and Kansas Wheat Commissioner, Manhattan, Kan., ; Lance Adams, Merchandising Manager, Team Marketing Alliance, Moundridge, Kan.; Steve Mercer, Vice President of Communications, USW; Jason Middleton, Oregon Wheat Commissioner and PNW Regional Manager, United Grain Corp., Umatilla, Ore.; Dana Tuckness, a wheat farmer and Oregon Wheat Commissioner, Ontario, Ore.; Shelby Knisley, Director of Policy, USW; Scott Yates, Director of Communications and Membership, Washington Grain Commission, Spokane, Wash.; Claire Hutchins, Market Analyst, USW; Brian Cochrane, a wheat farmer and Washington Grain Commissioner, Kahlotus, Wash.; Aaron Harries, Vice President of Research and Operations, Kansas Wheat, Manhattan, Kan.; Shawn Thiele, Interim Associate Director/Flour Milling and Grain Processing Curriculum Manager, IGP Institute, and co-instructor.

 

 

Mark Fowler counsels his colleagues Shelbi Knisley and Claire Hutchins on adjusting laboratory mills in K-State’s Shellenberger Hall in a section of the course demonstrating basic milling processes. Hutchins is adjusting the break roll gap on the lab mill.

 

Measuring and adjusting “Break Release” to balance the milling system is a basic skill for flour millers. Here in the Hal Ross Flour Mill, Shawn Thiele explains how weighing stock from 1st break rolls, sifting and comparing the weight of the resulting flour (“through material”) measures the percentage of break stock released.

 

Comparing particle size and color of “through” material from the break, purification and reduction systems clearly show the fine-tuned effort at each step in the milling process to extract as much usable flour as possible from cleaned and tempered wheat stock.

 

Participants in the short course learned about the wide range of flour qualities and byproducts produced in the milling process. This sample table was prepared for course participants by students at K-State working toward bachelor’s degrees in milling science and management.

 

One wheat does not fit all. Preparing and baking sugar snap cookies (biscuits), yellow cakes and pan breads using different flour products helped the course participants better understand flour functionality and the crucial wheat quality component for end-product processors around the world. Aaron Clanton, left, Bakers National Education Foundation (BNEF) Instructor at K-State, and several Bakery Science students led the participants through an enjoyable morning in the K-State bakery lab.

 

 

 

 

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Meet the USW Technical Experts: Dr. Ting Liu – Opening Doors in a Naturally Winning Way

Name: Ting Liu, Ph.D

Title: Technical Specialist

Office: USW China, Hong Kong Region, Beijing Office

Providing Service to: People’s Republic of China

Where and who we come from makes so much difference in each life. For Dr. Ting Liu, the skills she observed in her family as an only child in southeastern China’s Zhejiang province led directly to a doctorate in food science and her position as Technical Specialist with U.S. Wheat Associates (USW).

“I grew up with parents who produced and sold all kinds of furniture in our town, so they showed me how to stay in harmony with customers,” Dr. Liu said. “My love of food started as I watched my grandmother form dough for the many different Chinese wheat foods she made and sometimes helped me make.”

Ting as a child with her grandmother.

Filled with the traditions of her grandmother’s baking and a focus on schoolwork, Dr. Liu earned a spot in the Food Science and Engineering program at Zhejiang Gongshang University. Learning professional skills and participating in efforts to develop new products, including nutritious drinks and snacks, as she earned her bachelor’s degree, helped convince her that she should focus on food research and development.

“In order to build more food knowledge, improve my competitiveness and broaden my horizons, I decided to do graduate study in food science abroad,” Dr. Liu said.

U.S. Connections

She chose the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, because it served a large agricultural state home to the headquarters of many large-sized food companies, such as Cargill and General Mills. Ultimately, her connections there helped lay the foundation of her work today representing U.S. wheat farmers in China.

“I decided to do my post-graduate research on whole wheat products because of my childhood memories and my understanding of the health benefits of whole grains,” Dr. Liu recalled. “That is how I met a very important advisor in my life, whose name is Dr. Len Marquart. Under his guidance during my doctoral study, I improved my English writing and communication skills, my ability to think independently, solve problems, and how to develop professional networks of influential people. He also made it possible for me to do my research as a visiting scholar at the Wheat Marketing Center (WMC) in Portland, Oregon, from June 2014 to January 2016.”

Ting (Third from the right, first row) with Wheat Marketing Center (WMC) Staff and USW China End Product Collaborative Team in 2015 at WMC.

Dr. Liu’s work at WMC was productive and transformative. Working with Dr. Marquart and former WMC Technical Director Dr. Gary Hou, she completed three research projects on improving the quality of whole wheat tortillas using different particle sizes of flour milled from U.S. hard red winter (HRW), hard red spring (HRS), and hard white wheat, sprouted whole wheat flour and a chemical leavening system. Through this research, Dr. Liu published six peer-reviewed technical papers and one book chapter in English on whole wheat products. She presented research results at the annual meetings of the American Association of Cereal Chemists (AACC) International and the Institute of Food Technologists. She was also actively involved in the AACC International Milling & Baking Division.

Dr. Liu said working at WMC exposed her to flour milling and wheat and flour quality analysis. She also helped prepare short courses and workshops on wheat products, prepared a range of wheat food products, and completed a research project on pan bread with added whey permeate. Much of that work was done under WMC’s educational partnership with USW.

Understanding the Mission

“One of my favorite things about working at WMC was helping host teams of wheat growers and students from all over the United States, as well as U.S. wheat customers from all over the world,” Dr. Liu said. “In 2015, I had the chance to meet the people working with USW in China when they brought three teams to WMC for different programs. This helped me better understand the USW mission and ignited my interest in joining the USW team in China.”

Ting graduated and obtained a Ph.D. in Food Science from the University of Minnesota in 2016.

Fortunately, as Dr. Liu completed her doctorate program in August 2016, a technical position was available in the USW Beijing office.

“Dr. Marquart believed I would be well-suited to a job serving as a liaison between U.S. farmers, their wheat, and the milling and wheat food industries in China,” Dr. Liu recalled. “During my job interview, USW Regional Vice President Jeff Coey told me the greatest asset of USW lies in its people who are truly good at what they do, are eager to share their knowledge with their teammates and customers, and tend to devote many years to the organization. I took the job as Technical Specialist without hesitation.”

“Ting already had a keen understanding of our mission from her work at the Wheat Marketing Center, and it was apparent right away that she would bring a tremendous value to our team and to our customers in China,” Coey said.

The need for additional wheat classes in China was increasing as Dr. Liu settled into her new position with USW in September 2016. According to IBIS World Industry Report, China’s bread and bakery product manufacturing industry grew rapidly at an annualized rate of 6.6 percent between 2013 and 2018. And until the government implemented retaliatory tariffs in March 2018, China was importing an annual average of 1.6 million metric tons of U.S. HRS, soft white, and HRW.

With that growth comes an opportunity for USW and Dr. Liu. USW continues to have a strong working relationship with the leaders and faculty at the Sino-American Baking School in Guangzhou and baking consultants to help China’s flour millers and wheat food processors better understand how to best utilize the characteristics of U.S. wheat classes to help grow their businesses. Under the guidance of Coey, USW Country Director Shirley Lu, Dr. Liu has taken on more and more of those responsibilities.

Ting conducted a Frozen Dough short course at Sino-American Baking School in 2019.

“Our team has great confidence in providing technical service that customers need to meet new consumer demand using U.S. wheat,” Lu said. “Ting has the expertise, language ability, nice personality, and high sense of responsibility that fit perfectly in the organization and our unique markets.”

It is clear that customers in China consider Dr. Liu a valued addition to USW’s service. They appreciate her undeniable professional credentials and achievements, but above all, they enjoy her sincere, friendly personality.

“Dr. Liu is very keen to use her professional expertise to solve practical problems in our technology research and development,” said one general manager of a flour mill in Guangdong province. “We want to express our heartfelt thanks to her and to U.S. Wheat Associates.”

Dr. Liu made a strong impression on the research and development manager at a very influential wheat buying and flour milling organization in China. She noted that Dr. Liu “takes the initiative to determine the technical needs of our company and provides cutting-edge information to solve problems and help the company. She always teaches complex knowledge with concise language and a sweet voice.”

Continuing Education

In her own generous way, Dr. Liu said USW has made it possible for her to get the best training and exposure to real-world milling and baking challenges as part of her work.

In 2018, USW sent Dr. Liu to a Baking Science and Technology course at AIB International in Manhattan, Kan., an intensive, 16-week program combining science, hands-on lab work, and baking tradition. She represented herself and USW with distinction, earning top student honors and an “Excellence in Laboratory Leadership” award for her participation in the course.

Ting completed the Baking Science and Technology (BST) Course at AIB International in Manhattan, Kansas, in 2018.

“I was also able to assist in the USW Baking Science and Technology, Cookie & Cracker, Frozen Dough, and Advanced Prepared Mix courses developed by our Bakery Consultant Roy Chung at the UFM Baking School in Bangkok, Thailand,” Dr. Liu said. “There is no doubt Mr. Roy is a master of baking and teaching and is very nice to share his technical service expertise and experience with me. Moreover, our Regional Technical Director, Mr. Peter Lloyd, has also provided tremendously valuable guidelines on troubleshooting and solving challenges in flour mills.”

Ting (First from the left, first row) assisted in Mr. Roy Chung’s Advanced Prepared Mix Technology Course in 2019.

Her enthusiastic accounting of the training she has received, and the wide range of technical support she provides make it clear Dr. Liu loves the work she does on behalf of U.S. wheat farmers.

“By visiting and providing technical services to customers, we can better understand customer needs and reflect these requirements to U.S. wheat farmers,” she noted. “At the same time, we can enhance our customers’ effective processing of U.S. wheat flour and how its functional attributes perform for the baker.

“In addition, the seminars and short courses I have conducted can help current and potential customers further understand the characteristics of U.S. wheat and flour, the flour milling process, testing methods, and ways to adjust formulas and processes according to flour specifications. This is of direct benefit to U.S. wheat growers by promoting their wheat to customers in international markets.”

Ting and her bread while attending a BST course at AIB International in 2018.

An Excellent Bridge

In fact, after one recent USW Crop Quality Seminar and a special technical session attended by top Chinese flour mills and food processors, a food company executive commended Dr. Liu’s professional analysis and insight on the supply, quality, and application of U.S. wheat classes.

“She was clear and confident in her presentations and is a knowledgeable expert. I believe she will be an excellent bridge between U.S. Wheat Associates and customers.”

Even in the face of challenging political realities and complex commercial dynamics, private and public customers in China continue to seek information and advice from USW.

“No customer is compelled to work with USW,” Jeff Coey said. “The fact that they choose to accept our service and the products we promote is a testament to everyone on our team,” Jeff Coey said. “Ting complements our ability to earn that trust, understand the constraints, and grasp the opportunities in this market for U.S. wheat. She has a naturally winning way of opening doors for us wherever she goes.”

By Steve Mercer, USW Vice President of Communications

Editor’s Note: This is the seventh in a series of posts profiling U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) technical experts in flour milling and wheat foods production. USW Vice President of Global Technical Services Mark Fowler says technical support to overseas customers is an essential part of export market development for U.S. wheat. “Technical support adds differential value to the reliable supply of U.S. wheat,” Fowler says. “Our customers must constantly improve their products in an increasingly competitive environment. We can help them compete by demonstrating the advantages of using the right U.S. wheat class or blend of classes to produce the wide variety of wheat-based foods the world’s consumers demand.”

Header Photo Caption: Ting presented “International Whole Grain Development” at the 2017 Sino-Foreign Whole Grains Industry Development Experts Forum.

Meet the other USW Technical Experts in this blog series:

Shin Hak “David” Oh – Expertise Fermented in Korean Food Culture
Tarik Gahi – ‘For a Piece of Bread, Son’
Gerry Mendoza – Born to Teach and Share His Love for Baking
Marcelo Mitre – A Love of Food and Technology that Bakes in Value and Loyalty
Peter Lloyd – International Man of Milling
Ivan Goh – An Energetic Individual Born to the Food Industry
 Adrian Redondo – Inspired to Help by Hard Work and a Hero
Andrés Saturno – A Family Legacy of Milling Innovation
Wei-lin Chou – Finding Harmony in the Wheat Industry

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Wheat Industry News

Recent news and highlights from around the wheat industry.

Speaking of Wheat: “A lot of times, when there are issues that are important to us, the other side is very politically active. They’re there, they’re protesting and they’re making their voices heard. We need to make our voices heard as well.” – Fairfield, Wash., wheat farmer Marci Green, upon receiving an Excellence in Agriculture award Feb. 5. 2020.

UK Scientists Identify High Fiber Wheat Genes. “Farming UK” reported recently that an international group of scientists led by Rothamsted Research and the John Innes Centre have opened the door to high fiber white flour with as much as twice the fiber of traditional white flour. By looking for sections of genetic code shared by plants with the high fiber trait, the team homed in on the likely spots where high fiber genes reside. The researchers are hopeful high fiber wheat varieties can be commercially available within five years now that breeders have a new tool with which to screen wheat lines. Read more here.

Space Cookies! Recently, a batch of chocolate chip cookies (or biscuits) — the first food ever baked in space — returned to Earth aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule. The cookies started out from the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel chain as Earth-made dough, which launched to the International Space Station along with the Zero G oven (the first oven designed to work in space) in November 2019. The recipe for space cookies: bake at 325°F (167°C) for 130 minutes! Read and see more here.

Grains Important in Infant Diets. Sosland Publishing recently reported on a new study published in Nutrients, a peer-reviewed medical journal of human nutrition, highlights the importance of grains as part of a healthy infant diet — and the potential risks of excluding them. “This study is the first to examine grain consumption patterns among U.S. infants … and clearly provides evidence for what organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the CDC, have been suggesting for decades: grains support the backbone of a healthy infant diet,” said study author Yanni Papanikolaou, of Nutritional Strategies Inc. Read the study in Nutrients can be found here.

IGP Institute Milling Courses. The IGP Institute in Manhattan, Kan., has announced a series of milling courses in its upcoming summer schedule, including two  Buhler-KSU Executive Milling courses (one in English and on in Spanish), as well as a IAOM-KSU Introduction to Flour Milling course. Click here to register and for more information on these courses.

Subscribe to USW Reports. USW publishes a variety of 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 page at https://www.facebook.com/uswheat for the latest updates, photos and discussions of what is going on in the world of wheat. Also, find breaking news on Twitter at https://twitter.com/uswheatassoc and video stories on Vimeo at https://vimeo.com/uswheatassociates.

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Nisshin Flour Milling Inc. Congratulates U.S. Wheat Associates on 40 Years

Behind the world’s most reliable supply of wheat are the world’s most dependable people. Those people, from U.S. Wheat Associates staff to the state wheat commissions and U.S. wheat farm families to the many hands along the U.S. supply chain, and finally our overseas customers – are all a part of our story. Despite the different roles or distances between us, all of the people in our story share an unspoken connection, not only through U.S. wheat but through our shared values of growth, hard work and family. We appreciate the many congratulatory messages and well wishes from our friends and customers from all over the world.

Message from Nisshin Flour Milling Inc.

“Congratulations on the 40th anniversary for the establishment of USW (U.S. Wheat Associates). For the Japanese flour millers including us, stable supply of U.S. wheat to our market is crucial. We appreciate the great contribution of USW playing the role of providing a bridge between U.S. wheat producers and Japanese flour millers for many years.

In order to provide high quality wheat flour to our customers, it is very important for us to have better understanding of wheat crop quality each year, for which USW has given us timely information on crop progress and quality, and opportunities to visit wheat fields and producers for face to face discussion in harvest season.

Such a crop survey at the field enables us to deepen our understanding of not only the crop quality, but also the actual situation of the crop production and distribution in the U.S. market. And by return, we can provide the producers with our customer and consumer needs of which kind and type of wheat the end users are looking for in Japan.

We believe the demand of U.S. wheat would grow even more in the Japanese market as long as we keep supplying good quality wheat flour to our end users. We would appreciate USW‘s continuous assistance for purchasing  high quality U.S. wheat. We would like to continue our long-term partnership for further development in the future.”

Visiting Darren Padget’s farm in Oregon.

Visiting Darren Padget’s farm in Oregon.

Meeting in Washington.

 

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Supply, Quality and Price Support USDA Wheat Export Estimates

By USW Market Analyst Claire Hutchins

Between January and February 2020, USDA raised its total U.S. wheat export estimate from 26.5 million metric tons (MMT) to 27.2 MMT, 7% greater than last year, if realized. U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) believes the United States is on track to reach USDA’s export estimates due to favorable marketing trends in the first half of 2019/20 that led to a strong export pace between June 2019 and February 2020.

U.S. wheat farmers continue to produce an abundant supply of high-quality wheat, which is always a factor in overseas demand. Export prices have certainly attracted customers’ attention in marketing year 2019/20. And if they compare current price trends to what has happened at this time of year on average the past five years, customers can also see an unusual buying opportunity.

HRW. USDA expects 2019/20 HRW exports will reach 10.6 MMT, 18 percent greater than last year, if realized. Relatively low HRW prices during the first half of 2019/20 boosted HRW exports into early 2020. Between early June 2019 and late December 2020, the average Gulf HRW 11.5% protein (on a 12% moisture basis) FOB price trended about 7 percent below the 5-year average price. As of Feb 13. 2020, HRW exports to all destinations total 6.44 MMT, 33 percent greater than this time last year and 61 percent of USDA’s 2019/20 forecast. HRW prices climbed between late August and early January but have fallen back 4 percent between to $226/MT FOB, offering a price incentive for the final months of the marketing year.

HRS. USDA forecasts 2019/20 HRS exports will reach 7.48 MMT, 6 percent greater than last year, if realized. As of Feb 13. 2020, HRS exports to all destinations total 4.62 MMT, slightly below last year and 62 percent of USDA’s 2019/20 forecast. Gulf HRS 14% protein prices trended dramatically below 2018 values and the 5-year average price between early June and late September, until concerns of a wet harvest brought prices more in line with 2018 levels at about $270/MT. However, HRS prices are trending down in the second half of 2019/20 and are, on average, 5 percent lower than the 5-year average FOB trendline at about $264/MT. Industry experts believe HRS FOB prices could continue their downward trend on cheaper nearby secondary rail rates and light export demand, beneficial for deliveries in April and May 2020.

SRW. USDA predicts SRW exports will total 2.72 MMT, 22 percent lower than last year, if realized. USW reported Feb. 5, soft red winter (SRW) export prices had been climbing steadily since the end of the 2019 harvest on reduced production, tight ending stocks and stable domestic and overseas demand. However, after Jan. 24, a dip in export demand pressured prices, offering an opportunity for SRW importers to lock in a lower price through the end of marketing year 2019/20. Between Jan. 24 and Feb.14, 2020, SRW prices fell 6 percent to $247/MT FOB. Despite reduced production and higher than average prices, SRW exports to date are in line with this time last year at 1.83 MMT, 67 percent of USDA’s final forecast.

White wheat (soft and hard). USDA predicts 2019/20 white wheat exports will total 5.31 MMT, in line with last year and 15 percent greater than the 5-year average of 4.60 MMT. For the majority of the first half of 2019/20, soft white (SW) wheat (representing 99 percent of U.S. white wheat production) 10.5% maximum protein prices trended well below the last year’s price and the 5-year average price over the same time period, providing overseas customers with ideal white wheat buying opportunities. As of Feb. 14, the SW 10.5% protein maximum FOB price was $237/MT, 2 percent lower than this time last year and 5 percent below the 5-year average. As of Feb. 13, 2020, all white wheat exports total 3.56 MMT, 3 percent greater than last year and 67 percent of USDA’s final white wheat export forecast.

Durum. USDA predicts 2019/20 U.S. durum exports will total 1.10 MMT, 83 percent greater than last year and 54 percent greater than the 5-year average. Durum exports to Italy, the largest market for U.S. durum, are more than double what they were this time last year at 439,000 metric tons (MT) due to a 12 percent reduction in European Union (EU) durum production in 2019. Year-to-date U.S. durum exports now total 655,000 MT, nearly double last year’s export pace and 60 percent of USDA total 2019/20 durum export forecast.

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The United States and Kenya Launch Trade Talks, Agree to Lift PNW Wheat Barrier

By Shelbi Knisley, USW Director of Trade Policy

U.S. wheat producers welcomed recent news that Kenya lifted a trade barrier on some U.S. grown wheat and agreed at the same time to initiate talks on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). An FTA with Kenya could provide more favorable tariff and sanitary-phytosanitary (SPS) provisions for U.S. wheat in a market that annually imports around 2.0 million metric tons (MMT). The U.S. Trade Representative’s announcement to launch this discussion with Kenya is mandated under the renewal of the 2015 African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

The U.S.- Kenya Trade and Investment Working Group adopted a phytosanitary protocol for Kenya that would allow U.S. wheat growers in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) access to Kenya’s wheat market for the first time in over a decade. Historically Kenya has maintained a non-scientific SPS barrier against U.S. wheat from this region due to concerns about the potential presence of a plant disease known as Flag Smut. Kenya’s ban has also impacted U.S. wheat exports to Uganda, but not because that country bans Flag Smut. Uganda is a land-locked country therefore uses Kenya’s port facilities, which forces them to abide by Kenya’s import requirements.

Kenya’s domestic wheat production only meets around 10 percent of its annual demand. Even as Kenya maintains a 10 percent import tariff on wheat from all origins, they typically remain a price-sensitive buyer. The country sources much of its wheat import volume from nearby suppliers—Russia, Ukraine and the EU—which often has a price and freight advantage over PNW wheat supplies. That combination of obstacles puts the key to expanding U.S. wheat market share in an FTA that would resolve remaining SPS issues and provide a tariff advantage to U.S. wheat. This would allow Kenyan flour millers access to quality U.S. wheat supplies at a lower cost. The United States currently supplies around 5 percent of this market, or about 120,000 MT per year.

U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) believes announcement to launch negotiations with Kenya is a step in the right direction that has the potential to serve as a model for trade negotiations with other African countries to follow.

Learn more about other trade negotiations and issues crucial to overseas demand for U.S. wheat here.

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