Russian Wheat Prices Follow Global Benchmarks Lower
Reuters – 08/20/2019
Prices of Russian wheat exports fell last week after a higher than expected U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimate of this year’s U.S. corn crop caused a sharp slide in Chicago grain futures, a global benchmark for the market, analysts said. Black Sea prices for wheat with 12.5% protein content fell $1 to $193 a tonne on a free on board (FOB) basis by the end of last week, Russian agricultural consultancies SovEcon and IKAR said. Barley prices rose by $2 to $181 a tonne, SovEcon added. Russian wheat exports fell sharply last week compared with a week earlier, SovEcon said, citing customs data. It currently sees August wheat, barley and maize exports at 4.2 million tonnes, which is a relatively low amount for this time of the season. The period between August and October is traditionally the most active for Russian grain exports.
US Wheat Net Export Sales Decline 5.2% on Week, Mexico Remains Top Buyer
S&P Global – 08/16/2019
US wheat net export sales for the 2019-20 crop (June-May) reached 462,224 mt in the week ended August 8, down 5.2% week on week, partly led by large reductions from unknown destinations, latest data from the US Department of Agriculture showed. However, the latest weekly sales came within market expectations, as analysts had estimated sales to be in the range of 195,000-494,900 mt for the 2019-20 marketing year. A total of 126,500 mt of net sales reductions from unknown destinations were recorded in the week to August 8. US wheat exporters also recorded their first net export sales for the 2020-21 crop since the new marketing year began June 1. Buyers booked 12,250 mt of wheat for 2020-21, according to the USDA. Physical wheat exports — those which have been shipped from the US — totaled 636,150 mt in the latest week, up 73.3% from a week earlier, according to the USDA report released Thursday. Mexico emerged as the largest importer for the US wheat, shipping in 121,200 mt during the latest week. Wheat shipments to Japan totaled 103,600 mt.
State Wheat Breeding Program Builds Strong Foundation
Farm Progress – 08/20/2019
The sun beats down as Jeff Noel stares out at miniature fields of wheat near Yuma, Ariz. These aren’t the sprawling, yellow fields of grain from western Nebraska. Each mini field or plot measures less than 75 square feet. As the director of Husker Genetics, part of Noel’s job is production and evaluation of these plots. With 400 plots to walk through, thousands of wheat plants wait to be examined. Hours of work remain to be done. However, Noel isn’t focused on the quantity of labor remaining. He’s focused on the quality of the future. These wheat plants are a bridge bringing new genetics from research at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to wheat farmers across Nebraska and the Midwest. These little plots eventually will become sprawling fields of grain that will feed families around the world. While Husker Genetics received its current name in 2005, the organization has existed since 1946. Its task has always been the same — to increase breeder-developed seed from greenhouse quantities to commercial quantities that can be grown by farmers. “Part of what we’re doing is making sure a variety can work all the way to commercialization, not just in a greenhouse or a lab,” Noel says.
Montana: Winter Wheat Harvest Underway
Montana Ag Network – 08/19/2019
Harvest is underway for Montana farmers, albeit at a somewhat slower pace versus last year for barley, wheat and pulse crop growers for various reasons. Denise Conover is a farmer from Broadview and also a member of the Montana Wheat and Barley Committee. She said overall this has been a heck of a year for raising wheat, at least in south-central Montana. “Yes, it has been,” said Conover. “We’ve had tremendous yields and we’re very pleased with the quality. And we’re just trucking along.” Yields have been tremendous. “We’ve cut anywhere from 70 to 90 bushels to the acre, which is pretty much unheard of in this part of the world,” said Conover. “But like I said, I think with all the moisture, the timely rains, the cool temperatures this spring is why it’s a little bit later. But we’ll take it because we love it.”
North Dakota: Rugby Farm Set to Harvest Above-Average Wheat
AgWeek – 08/19/2019
Cory Johnson farms and his family on the verge of the 2019 grain harvest in north-central North Dakota. The family raises mostly wheat and canola, but also soybeans and a little corn. Cory, 52, joined the farm in 1990. He farms with brothers Scott, 59, and Kipp, 48, Their father, LeRoy, had been in the International Harvester implement business in the 1960s and 1970s. The family has operated out of this place since 1971 at the townsite of Fero that functioned from 1905 to 1942. Cory and his wife, Kayla, have high school and college-age children who help with harvest and may one day return to the farm. “It’s actually looking like a little bit above-average up here,” Cory said in an Aug. 7 visit. It had been “super-dry” earlier and the early-planted wheat could have used a drink in May and early June. It rebounded after some nice rains in mid- to late-June. “Now, we’re getting kind of dry again. We need a shot of rain, soon.” The farm got 0.6 inches on Aug. 12 and 13, so he hoped that would revive some of the soybean prospects. They expected to start harvesting wheat as soon as Wednesday, Aug. 14. Wheat yields appear to be average to above-average. Later-seeded wheat fields benefited from the June rains more than the early-planted wheat. The family sometimes uses glyphosate on some acres as a dessicant to help even out maturity for harvest.
Source: U.S. Wheat Associates