Trump Trade Blows Fail to Slow Mexican Demand for U.S. Wheat
Reuters – 06/13/2019
Mexican bread and flour tortilla makers will likely use significantly more wheat sourced from the United States this year despite growing unease with President Donald Trump, according to Mexico’s main wheat chamber. Wheat shipments to Mexico from Russia are also expected to repeat last year’s big jump in volume, while Argentine wheat is seen gaining a new foothold as the Mexican industry continues to diversify its suppliers. Mexico relies on wheat imports to supply about two-thirds of domestic demand. Overall, Mexican wheat imports will “very likely” be between 5.1 and 5.2 million tonnes, up from 4.9 million tonnes in 2018, boosted by a 4 percent jump in domestic demand, said Jose Luis Fuente, head of the CANIMOLT wheat chamber…CANIMOLT, which represents around 80 percent of Mexican millers, held talks with representatives of the U.S. Wheat Associates, a major export group, at the Mexican beach resort of Cancun in the days after Trump’s tariff threat on May 30. “The Americans arrived very worried about the tweet from President Trump,” said Fuente, noting that both sides pledged to lobby their governments to defuse the spat. “We’re in the business of trade and we have to focus on that.”
Strategie Grains Cuts EU 2019/20 Wheat Export Outlook by 1 MLN Tonnes
Reuters – 06/13/2019
A worsening of European soft wheat’s competitiveness on world markets led crop consultancy Strategie Grains to cut by more than 1 million tonnes its forecast for EU soft wheat exports to third countries for the 2019/20 season on Thursday. Strategie Grains now expects the European Union to export 22.1 million tonnes of soft wheat in the season starting on July 1, down from 23.2 million estimated last month. That would still be above the revised estimate of 21.0 million tonnes for the current 2018/19 season. “The outlook here has actually worsened since last month thanks to the new increase for Ukraine’s exportable surplus, given that Ukrainian wheat is a main competitor of EU wheat,” it said in a monthly report. “At current prices, France would export less wheat than in 2018/19 although the northern EU countries – Germany, Lithuania, Latvia – would perform solidly, assuming that their harvests rebound in line with current forecasts (dry conditions in the Baltic countries are currently causing concern),” it added.
Managing Wheat Breeding from Space
Farm Progress – 06/14/2019
The challenge looms before the plant breeding community: how to boost productivity of key crops to meet growing food demand for the future, while maintaining sustainability. For a group of Washington State University scientists, the answer is to look to the sky to improve wheat varieties. Their work, funded by a $500,000 grant from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, aims to develop techniques using satellite and drone imagery to identify and study wheat varieties from overhead. The work could speed up research into better, more productive wheat varietis. Wheat is grown on more acres globally than any other crop. It is a staple feeding more than one-third of the world’s population. The challenge for breeders is meeting global demand while keeping ahead of devastating pests, pathogens and a changing environment. Their work involves improving wheat varieties, and key to that is phenotyping — measuring the way plant genes are expressed physically. That way, breeders can select the best plants to breed for improved yield, grain quality and resistance to pests and diseases.
IAOM, KSU Partner on Flour Milling Courses
World-Grain – 06/14/2019
Kansas State University (KSU) and the International Association of Operative Millers (IAOM) are partnering to offer flour milling training in October. In an effort to help flour milling personnel better understand the milling process a basic milling principles course will be held at the IGP Institute in Manhattan, Kansas, U.S., Oct. 7-11. “This course is designed for those who have theoretical or practical work experience in a flour mill,” said Shawn Thiele, IGP Institute associate director, and flour milling and grain processing curriculum manager. Participants should expect to gain a better understanding of wheat classes and uses; wheat testing practices and methods; wheat cleaning and condition systems; importance of wheat quality and preparation; milling process specifics and associated equipment; basic flowsheet terminology and understanding; advantages of wheat and flour bending; granulation curves; flour and dough quality testing. “Past participants had the opportunity to learn a lot about wheat cleaning, conditioning and the different classes of wheat,” Thiele said. “They also had the opportunity to spend time in the Shellenberger Hall baking lab and the Hal Ross flour mill.”
Source: U.S. Wheat Associates