Record PH Wheat Imports Expected
The Manila Times – 04/11/2019
Philippine wheat imports are seen to reach a record 7 million metric tons (MT) this year, up 17 percent from a year ago and up 11 percent from the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) earlier forecast of 6.3 million MT. In the Global Agricultural Information Network report of its Foreign Agricultural Service in Manila, the USDA attributed the projected increase to continued strong demand. “For the past several years, wheat imports have been rising as demand for food and feed grains increases with the growing population,” the USDA said.“Although primarily a rice-based diet, Philippine preferences are shifting from corn-based products to incorporating more affordable wheat products,” it added. Wheat imports have increased consistently since 2016. Total imports that year reached 4.918 million MT, 5.704 million in 2017 and 5.987 million MT last year.
Mnuchin: US, China have Reached Enforcement Deal
Agri-Pulse – 04/10/2019
The U.S. and China have settled on a way to enforce agreements made in a pact to end the trade war between the two countries, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday in a CNBC interview. “We’ve pretty much agreed on an enforcement mechanism,” Mnuchin said in the interview. “We’ve agreed that both sides will establish enforcement offices that will deal with the ongoing matters. This is something both sides are taking very seriously.” Enforcement has been cited often by Trump administration officials as one of the most difficult issues to nail down in the talks. Mnuchin, who said he had a productive talk with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He Tuesday, would not comment on whether the enforcement agreement includes any or all of the $250 billion worth of U.S. tariffs remaining in place.
Gallagher Tops Oklahoma Wheat Plantings
High Plains Journal – 04/09/2019
For the fourth year running, Gallagher tops the list of known wheat varieties planted for the 2019 crop in Oklahoma. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service’s annual survey of Oklahoma wheat producers, Gallagher was planted on 19.8 percent of the seeded hard winter wheat acres in Oklahoma last fall. Followed by Doublestop CL Plus at 4.8 percent and Bentley at 4.4 percent of total hard winter acres. Survey respondents also planted 33.8 percent of total hard winter acres to “Other” or “Unknown” hard winter varieties, which often means saved “bin-run” seed. Gallagher was developed by Oklahoma State University’s Wheat Improvement Team, and is licensed to Oklahoma Genetics, Inc. It is an early maturing variety that provides good grazing tolerance along with larger seed size over its Duster parent.
Barilla Expands Iowa Pasta Plant, Durum Mill
World-Grain – 04/11/2019
The Barilla Group has completed the $65 million expansion of its pasta plant and integrated durum mill in Ames. The expansion has boosted the facility’s production capacity to 200,000 tonnes of dry pasta per year. The project added two processing and packaging lines, a rail-yard expansion and six new silos to store wheat. Barilla’s Ames facility, which previously employed 173, now employs 214 and operates eight production lines. “Pietro Barilla had a vision for our company to bring to the U.S. high-quality, healthy foods inspired by the Italian, Mediterranean lifestyle,” said Claudio Colzani, chief executive officer of Barilla Group, at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. “Over 20 years ago, we were drawn to the unparalleled work ethic of Iowans, the agricultural know-how of Iowa State University and the proximity to favorable rail access as well as the critical regional supply of wheat.
Four More U.S. Storms to Close Out April
Successful Farming – 04/10/2019
The bad news is that four more storms are expected to hit the U.S. before the month of April ends. The only silver lining is that not one single area will be hit by all four storms. For farmers, planting delays will be unavoidable, though, for the next 10 days. However, after this series of storms, the month of May looks warm and dry. The first storm is very intense coming out of the central Rockies today, dumping snow and traveling into the central Plains states moving eastward into the western Lakes over the next few days. “The very slow moving storm is hitting western Kansas on Wednesday. By noon tomorrow (Thursday), it will have not moved very far,” says Dale Moehler, AccuWeather meteorologist…The winds from this week’s storm are going to line up at 20,000 feet in the air. When that happens, very strong surface winds develop, he says. “We’re expecting 60 to 65 mph winds Wednesday afternoon, across the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles. The wheat crop that’s growing in those areas will get hit hard with the wind, sand, and dust. I think there will be crop damage,” Moehler says.
Source: U.S. Wheat Associates