EU Wheat Hits Fresh Lows on Export Doubt
Reuters – 08/21/2019 Euronext wheat futures fell to new contract lows on Wednesday as ample international supplies and sluggish activity on the French market dampened export prospects. Benchmark December milling wheat on Paris-based Euronext settled down 0.50 euro at 169.75 euros ($188) a tonne. It earlier touched a new life-of-contract low at 169.00 euros, below a previous low of 170.25 euros struck on Tuesday. A new three-month low for Chicago wheat added to technical pressure on Paris futures. Expectations of large global supplies have weighed on wheat markets, with tepid west European exports increasing pressure on Paris prices. In France, where the harvest is widely expected to be the second-biggest volume on record, traders were growing concerned that export prospects were faltering despite less competition than usual from Russia.
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Mr. President, Japan Wants Our Wheat (East Oregonian – 08/21/2019)
When we first heard that President Trump had been dismissive of U.S. wheat sales to Japan, we thought perhaps his quotes were taken out of context. After all, it was only a month ago the president was touting the value of U.S. farmers and the need for our trading partners to buy more U.S. farm products. But then we got a transcript from the White House and found that, yes, the president had been dismissive of U.S. wheat exports. Last week Trump visited a Pennsylvania chemical plant to tout energy production and domestic manufacturing. The official event took the tone of a campaign speech, and Trump launched into a standard riff about bad deals with various trading partners, including Japan…In a statement, the Oregon Wheat Growers League said it was “profoundly disappointed” in Trump’s comments. “The President’s dismissive statements … demonstrated that he doesn’t fully appreciate the 70 years of efforts by generations of wheat growers to build the great relationships we have with our customers in Japan,” the league stated in remarks that were reflective of other groups that responded to the Capital Press.
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Tester Invites Trump to Montana to Talk Wheat After Disparaging Remarks (Montana Standard – 08/21/2019)
After President Donald Trump’s disparaging remarks about the wheat sales to Japan, U.S. Sen. Jon Tester is inviting the president to a sit-down meeting with Montana farmers. Tester, who is home harvesting crops over the Senate’s August recess, made the offer in a letter written to President Trump on Wednesday. “Montana farmers rely heavily on Asian Pacific countries for trade, and Japan plays a particularly important role as the largest importer of Montana’s wheat,” Tester wrote. “This is not a market we can replace and our relationship should be celebrated, not mocked.”
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Attention on Rain Delayed Spring Wheat Harvest as Winter Wheat Nears Completion (Baking Business – 08/21/2019)
Spring wheat producers were hobbled by a wet spring that delayed seeding and stretched the process in some cases into mid-June. Now, intermittent rainstorms and elevated humidity have hindered timely combining and, as a result, the 2019 spring wheat harvest significantly lags the average pace. Spring wheat country “had a bit of a later planting season, but if you compare it with last year, also a late planting season, at this time in 2018 we had half the crop harvested,” said Erica Olson, market development and research manager with the North Dakota Wheat Commission. “These past few weeks, the wet conditions we’ve had made it difficult to get the crop to dry down.”
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2019 South Dakota Wheat Harvest Behind Schedule (The Daily Republic – 08/21/2019)
Both winter wheat and spring wheat harvests are behind schedule this year, thanks in part to poor weather throughout the planting, growing and harvest seasons. “What we have heard is that it’s too wet to get out and combine in a lot of the fields,” said Owen Anderson, county executive director for the Davison County Farm Service Agency. A cold winter and a wet spring made things difficult for wheat producers during both the planting and harvest season this year, impacting the harvest and related yields. A wet fall put winter wheat planting behind, as well. The National Agricultural Statistics Service, a branch of the United States Department of Agriculture, released a report Aug. 12 noting winter wheat in South Dakota was 68 percent harvested, which is down from 96 percent at this time last year and 90 percent on an average year. Spring wheat was even further behind, with 16 percent harvested, which is also well behind 76 percent harvested at this time last year and 61 percent on an average year. For quality, 2 percent of spring wheat was rated at very poor, 4 percent was rated at poor, 32 percent was rated at fair, 47 percent was rated at good and 15 percent was rated at excellent.
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Source: U.S. Wheat Associates