Milling Ops: Finding the Sweet Spot
World-Grain – 04/30/2019
While global demand for hard wheat-based products such as bread has declined in recent years as consumers have shifted toward protein-rich, low-carbohydrate diets, there’s more promising news regarding products made from soft wheat flour…While hard wheat has for centuries been grown in numerous countries on all five continents, soft wheat is less geographically diverse. “Soft wheat (SRW and SW) is pretty much produced in the United States,” said Steve Mercer, vice-president of communications for U.S. Wheat Associates. “Canada has a limited amount of SRW on the east coast and some SW on the west coast, but the production is small and exports total 200,000 tonnes in a good year. Other countries really don’t produce soft wheat with special classes like the U.S. and Canada. Australia has a group of low protein wheat that can be used to make many soft wheat products, but the genetics are different and ASW is not really a soft wheat.”
Argentine Wheat Exports to Hit Record High
World-Grain – 05/01/2019
Argentina’s wheat exports for market year 2019-20 are forecast at a record high of 14.5 million tonnes, including flour exports in wheat equivalent, according to an April 25 Global Agricultural Information Network report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA said Brazil is forecast to be the primary destination for Argentine wheat and sources indicate Brazil will import between 6 million tonnes and 7 million tonnes in market year 2019-20. “In March 2019, Brazil announced an intention to open a 750,000 tonnes of duty-free wheat import quota from non-Mercosur countries,” the USDA said. “The common market’s external import duty for wheat is 10%, while trade among members is duty free.” The USDA said following the announcement Argentine FOB prices dropped roughly $5 per tonne, and noted local traders will have to be more competitive, despite having advantages in freight cost and logistics, as most imported wheat in Brazil goes to mills in the southern part of the country. Argentina’s wheat exports for market year 2018-19 are expected to reach 13 million tonnes, 700,000 tonnes lower than the USDA’s official volume.
US-China Trade Deal is ‘Possible’ by Next Friday
CNBC – 05/01/2019
The announcement of a U.S. trade deal with China is “possible” by next Friday, sources told CNBC on Wednesday. A U.S. delegation met with Chinese negotiators in Beijing on Wednesday as the world’s two largest economies try to hammer out details of an agreement. Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will travel to Washington for talks next week. Washington and Beijing have pushed to resolve a trade dispute that led to a series of tariffs and raised fears about spiraling economic damage. While both sides have repeatedly touted progress in the talks, disputes such as whether to immediately remove existing tariffs or keep them in place as an enforcement measure to stop practices such as intellectual property theft have derailed a final deal. President Donald Trump also wants China to buy more U.S. goods to reduce the trade deficit between the countries…Reports have suggested the Trump administration could yield on some provisions as part of the deal. In a final agreement, the U.S. could immediately remove a 10% duty on part of the $200 billion in Chinese goods on which it levied tariffs, Politico reported Wednesday. Washington would keep a 25% tariff on $50 billion in goods until after the November 2020 election, according to the news outlet.
Wheat Tour 2019 Day 2 Recap
Kansas Wheat – 05/01/2019
Wednesday’s 20 cars of wheat tour scouts made 200 stops at wheat fields across western, central and southern Kansas, and into northern counties in Oklahoma. Scouts reported seeing widely varying wheat conditions (due, in large part, to planting date) along the route. While there were sightings of rust and other disease in south central Kansas, many stops saw signs of nitrogen deficiency, a common nutrient deficiency that could be remedied by fertilizer applications. However, many producers are choosing not to apply fertilizers due to decreasing wheat prices and increased input costs. This year the yield bump with fertilizer application may end up costing producers more than they would gain. “The wheat that looks good looks really good,” said Millershaski. “But there are a large chunk of fields that weren’t able to be planted in a typical timeframe. These fields just aren’t developing normally, there’s no root structure. I can see the potential for a lot of abandoned acres. We’re going to need every acre harvested that we can get to be right at an average crop year.”
Minnesota Wheat Research & Promotion Council and the Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers Name Executive Director
MNWheat.org – 05/01/2019
The Minnesota Wheat Research & Promotion Council (MWRPC) and the Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers (MAWG) hired Charlie Vogel to serve as the Executive Director for both organizations. Vogel will start his duties on June 1, 2019. Vogel holds a master’s degree in business administration from Colorado State University and a bachelor’s degree in agriculture education, with a minor in agriculture systems management from University of Idaho. He has more than 18 years of broad-based experience spanning the agricultural industry. Vogel began his career teaching agriculture education at the high school level in Colorado. His career path took him from department manager at a tillage equipment company, to a position as agronomy manager at several CHS locations. In 2016, Vogel and his family moved to North Dakota where he began at Cando Farmers Grain & Oil as the agronomy manager. He then advanced into the general manager position where he led Cando Farmers Grain & Oil through a successful merger with another cooperative into Legacy Cooperative in Bisbee, ND. Vogel was the sales and marketing manager at Legacy Cooperative before being hired at MWRPC & MAWG.
Source: U.S. Wheat Associates