Wheat Industry News

News and Information from Around the World Wheat Industry

 

Speaking of Wheat

“We are always looking for improved varieties because we continue to face economic and agronomic challenges. High yields are great until they’re laying on the ground due to wheat stem sawfly, disease, or something else. I evaluate varieties and if they all perform similarly in the field, I’m going to choose the variety that performs the best for the end user.” Montana wheat farmer Charlie Bumgarner, quoted in the Montana Wheat and Barley Committee’s first preferred variety recommendations on hard red spring wheat varieties. Read more here.

Thanks to Texas Wheat Executive

Rodney Mosier recently celebrated his 40th anniversary with the Texas Wheat Producers Board and Association. Rodney was hired at Texas Wheat on Feb. 23, 1984, as the Executive Assistant to then-Executive Vice President Bill Nelson. Upon Nelson’s retirement, Rodney was named Executive Vice President of Texas Wheat on April 1, 1998. During his career, Rodney has been highly involved with U.S. Wheat Associates (USW), serving on various committees, traveling overseas, and helping facilitate foreign trade team visits to Texas, including the 2023 COFCO Team in the photo at the top of this page.

 

NAWG Elects New Officers

The National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) elected Keeff Felty as President during their 2024 Annual Conference in Houston, Texas. Felty is a fourth-generation farmer in the Altus area of Oklahoma. In addition, NAWG directors elected Pat Clements of Kentucky as Vice President, Jamie Kress from Idaho as Treasurer, and Nathan Keane of Montana as the new Secretary.  Read more here.

Expanding Rail System in Kansas

The Kansas Department of Transportation’s Rail Service Improvement Program (RSIP) will invest nearly $16.5 million on 17 short line rail expansion and rehabilitation projects to improve its agricultural supply chain. State funding for the 17 projects will be enhanced by a 30% match from each recipient, including major grain handlers such as The Scoular Co. and Viterra USA, resulting in a total rail infrastructure investment of more than $23.5 million. Read more here.

Wheat Census Data: Comparing 2022 to 2017

According to USDA’s 2022 Census of Agriculture released Feb. 13, 2024, of the 1,900,487 farms in the United States, 96,950 farms produced wheat with a total sales value of $88.51 billion. Compared to the 2017 Census of Agriculture, the number of farms producing wheat declined 8% but the sales value of wheat production increased by almost 58%. Learn more about the 2022 Census of Agriculture here.

U.S. Agriculture Produces Far More with Less Inputs

U.S. farm output nearly tripled from 1948 to 2021. The increased productivity is widely agreed to be the top contributor to the economic growth of U.S. agriculture. These data are presented in the Summary of Recent Findings released by the USDA Economic Research Service (ERS). ERS also reports that technological advancements such as animal and crop genetics, chemicals, equipment, and farm organization were the main drivers of continuous output growth without additional inputs. Read more here.

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