USW Officers Begin New Terms at Annual Meeting
World-Grain – 06/13/2019
The U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) board of directors seated new officers at its annual meeting June 12 in Whitefish, Montana, U.S. The USW is an export market development organization representing U.S. wheat farmers. USW officers for 2019-20 are: Chairman Doug Goyings of Paulding; Vice-Chairman Darren Padget; Secretary-Treasurer Rhonda Larson; and Past Chairman Chris Kolstad. USW officers were elected to these one-year positions at the January 2019 board of directors meeting in Washington, D.C., U.S. Goyings and his family grow soft red winter (SRW) and have hosted numerous trade teams on their farm. He has served in Ohio and national agricultural leadership positions for 37 years…Padget is a fourth-generation farmer, with a dryland wheat and summer fallow rotation currently producing registered and certified seed on 3,400 acres annually…Larson was raised on her family’s Red River Valley farm and has been engaged in the operation full-time for nearly 30 years. Her father started the farm 50 years ago growing potatoes, wheat and barley. With her two brothers and her son, the third generation on the farm, they currently grow hard red spring (HRS) wheat and sugarbeets…Kolstad grows hard red winter (HRW) wheat, dark northern spring wheat, durum, barley and dry peas. A commissioner of the Montana Wheat and Barley Committee, Kolstad has been a USW director since 2012.
Black Sea Wheat Supply Seen Sufficient Despite Cut in Output Estimates
S&P Global – 06/17/2019
The recent cut in wheat production estimates for 2019-20 (July-June) in Russia and Ukraine due to dry weather conditions in parts of the Black Sea region are not raising any supply concerns, according to analysts. Russia and Ukraine account for a third of the wheat shipments by the top eight wheat exporting countries, according to the data by the US Department of Agriculture. They also account for a major portion of Black Sea wheat exports. If the dry weather conditions remain for another three to four weeks, there could be further reduction in Russian production estimates, Andrey Sizov Jr, managing director of SoveEcon, a Moscow-based agriculture markets research and consulting firm told S&P Global Platts. Platts Analytics earlier this month lowered its estimate for 2019-20 Russian wheat production to 78.7 million mt, a tad down from its April estimate. Winter crops in Volgograd (north of Southern district) and Volga districts were the most impacted by the dry weather, it said.
Time for a Deal With China, Say Farm-State Senators
Successful Farming – 06/14/2019
Half a dozen farm-state senators urged Trump trade officials on Thursday to speedily resolve the Sino-U.S. trade war that is compounding hard times on the farm. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts brushed aside assurances of a rosy future when trade deals are completed. “Some farmers aren’t going to make it,” he said. “It is time for both countries to remain at the table and reach the best deal possible,” said Roberts in opening a committee hearing on “Certainty in the Global Markets for the U.S. Agriculture Sector.” Ag exports, a key source of farm revenue, are forecast to drop by 4% this year. Net farm income, a gauge of profits, is in a four-year slump, while persistently wet weather has disrupted spring planting and is lowering the outlook this year’s crops.
Washington Week Ahead: USTR Presses USMCA, House Debates FY20 Bills
Agri-Pulse – 06/16/2019
The White House steps up its campaign to get Congress to approve the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement this week, dispatching U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer for hearings on both sides of Capitol Hill. Also this week, the House will start debating a five-bill package of fiscal 2020 spending measures that includes funding for the Agriculture Department, Food and Drug Administration, Interior Department and Environmental Protection Agency…President Donald Trump, who traveled to Iowa last Tuesday to promote the USMCA, insists he believes the USMCA implementing legislation will be “approved quickly.” “I think it’ll be a very bipartisan bill. It’s very much needed for the farmers, manufacturers,” he told reporters later in the week. “The unions like it, everybody likes it. It’s something that is very important, and as you know Canada’s totally in line and Mexico’s totally in line and now it’s up to us to get it passed.” If a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing last week is any indication, lawmakers aren’t likely to hear much reason from Lighthizer to be optimistic about a deal soon with China or Japan. In both cases, Gregg Doud, USTR’s chief agricultural negotiator, told senators he couldn’t say when an agreement would be reached.
Most Panhandle Wheat in Good Condition
The Star Herald – 06/17/2019
According to the USDA Crop Progress Report for the week ending June 10, topsoil moisture supplies rated 0 percent very short, 1 short, 79 adequate, and 20 surplus. Subsoil moisture supplies rated 0 percent very short, 0 short, 82 adequate, and 18 surplus. Winter wheat conditions rated 2 percent very poor, 5 poor, 24 fair, 50 good, and 19 excellent. Winter wheat headed was 69 percent, behind last year’s 86 and the 89 percent average. Producers in the northern Panhandle said some wheat has just started to head while other fields remain in flag leaf stage. Overall conditions remain good, though some recent cool temperatures haven’t helped growth advance. Producers estimate harvest may not begin in the region until August. Conditions across the southern Panhandle varied again, but most wheat remains in good condition. A few pockets of hail were reported, but no extensive damage occurred. Wheat growth ranges from just starting to head in the northwestern portion of the region to fully headed in the southwestern and eastern parts of the region.
Source: U.S. Wheat Associates