Wheat Tour Day 1 Recap
Kansas Wheat – 04/30/2019
More than 75 people from 25 U.S. states and 3 other countries traveled on six routes between Manhattan and Colby, Kan., Tuesday, stopping at wheat fields every 15-20 miles along the routes, as part of the Wheat Quality Council’s 2019 Hard Winter Wheat Tour. Many tour participants had never stepped foot in a wheat field before and had only seen these Kansas plains from the window seat of passing airplane. These are the millers, bakers, food processors and traders who buy the wheat that Kansas farmers grow. If these fields make it to harvest, the resulting crop will go into breads, but also a number of other food items, from snack cakes to donuts to seasonings, batters and coatings for fish, chicken and appetizers. Wheat industry professionals from all over the world have gathered in America’s Breadbasket, including Claire Hutchins, market analyst for U.S. Wheat Associates. Hutchins grew up on an irrigated wheat, soy and alfalfa farm near Fruita, Colorado. Her employer, U.S. Wheat Associates, is an export market development organization providing information and technical services to American farmers’ overseas customers, including some on this trip. “U.S. Wheat Associates educates foreign customers about the quality of U.S. wheat,” said Hutchins. “It’s important to communicate with buyers about the future of the crop. If they’re looking at protein purchases, we can get an idea of the protein potential of this crop and help them optimize their purchase decisions.”
Perdue: Japan Ag Trade Deal Possible Next Month
Agri-Pulse – 05/01/2019
Trade talks between the U.S. and Japan are moving quickly, and there’s a good chance the two countries can wrap up an ag-centric deal to lift Japanese tariffs next month, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said Tuesday. “I think we can get that done quickly, and hopefully by the time the president visits Japan,” Perdue said. President Donald Trump, who hosted visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the White House Friday and Saturday, is scheduled to travel to Japan from May 25-28 for the accession of the country’s new emperor…Japan, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Vietnam and six other Pacific Rim countries implemented the CPTPP in December. Two months later, Japan and the European Union kicked off a separate free trade agreement. Since then, Japan has reduced its tariffs on ag imports from those countries twice, while Japanese importers are forced to pay higher duties for U.S. commodities. U.S. wheat is just one commodity already suffering. As of April 1, U.S. wheat cost about $20 more per metric ton (about 55 cents per bushel) than competing wheat from countries in Europe or the CPTPP, according to officials with the U.S. Wheat Associates. The U.S. has been selling about 3 million metric tons of wheat per year to Japan, but that number is expected to drop if the U.S. doesn’t get on a level playing field soon. USW spokesman Steve Mercer said in a recent interview the group expects U.S. wheat exports to Japan could be cut in half in four or five years.
April 30 Crop Progress Report
North Dakota Wheat Commission – 04/30/2019
Some producers had just gotten a start on spring wheat and durum planting in North Dakota before precipitation in the form of rain or snow stalled progress over the weekend. Some northern areas received as much as 10-12 inches of snow, other areas received small amounts of rainfall. Many producers have not yet started fieldwork in the state as they continue to wait for fields to dry out. The forecast for the current week continues to show cooler conditions with chances of precipitation. While planting progress is behind the average for the region, the pace is generally ahead of or similar to last year’s pace. However, producers will need improved weather to make planting advancements. On a national average, about 13 percent of the spring wheat has been planted, compared to 33 percent on average and 9 percent last year. Minnesota has 2 percent planted, North Dakota is at 5 percent, South Dakota is at 8 percent, and Montana planting is about 23 percent complete. North Dakota reports that about 4 percent of the durum crop has been planted, compared to one percent last year and 7 percent on average.
Wheat Tour: Day 1
The Progressive Farmer – 04/30/2019
The first day of the Wheat Quality Council’s Hard Red Winter (HRW) Wheat Tour wrapped up with a total weighted average yield estimate of 46.9 bushels per acre (bpa), up from 38.2 bpa last year. The tour made 240 stops to measure wheat, most of them a muddy affair, as showers and thunderstorms pelted many of the tour’s routes through central and northern Kansas, as well as the southernmost counties of Nebraska. That moisture has been a game changer for the quality and yield potential of this year’s winter wheat crop, noted Doug Bounds, the Kansas state statistician for USDA NASS. “Last year roughly 97% of the state was in some state of drought at this time,” he said. “Now zero percent of the state is in a drought. So we have drastically different conditions this year.” As a result, estimated yields ran consistently higher than last year on the tour’s first day, even as some dry soils emerged in the western half of the state. Justin Gilpin, CEO of Kansas Wheat, piloted a car on the green route, which traveled through the state’s northern tier of counties.
2019 Oklahoma Wheat Harvest Could Be Seventy Percent Better Than a Year Ago
Oklahoma Farm Report – 05/01/2019
Oklahoma’s Wheat Crop was front and center as the 121st Annual Meeting of the Oklahoma Grain and Feed Association featured the 39th Annual Wheat Crop Report Session on Tuesday, April 30th- and two of the presenters that were a part of the gathering of data on the 2019 Hard Red Winter Wheat Crop in Oklahoma were Area Agronomists for OSU Extension- Heath Sanders and Josh Bushong…The OGFA participants listened to all the reports from across Oklahoma- and predicted a wheat crop just shy of 120 million bushels this year- 119.268 million bushels based on 37 bushels per acre and 3.19 million harvested acres. The big debate from most of the reporters during the session as well as from those in the room was exactly how many acres of wheat would actually still be standing when the combines begin rolling across Oklahoma in about four weeks. (the graphic above is the final number from the OGFA meeting- the second graphic is the summary of the reports that heard from across the state at the meeting.)
Source: U.S. Wheat Associates