Lack of Rain, Late Frosts Hit Argentina’s 2019/20 Wheat Crops
Reuters – 09/24/2019
A lack of rainfall and late frosts over Argentina’s main wheat-producing region are already leading to drop in crop yields, the Rosario grains exchange said on Tuesday. Argentina, a major global wheat exporter, had reported 6.87 million hectares (17 million acres) of growth in the planting area for the 2019/20 season. September has been a particularly dry month for an important part of Argentina’s farming region, which has been experiencing unusually low temperatures for the time of year. There is also no significant rainfall expected in the short term. There are wheat areas seeing yield losses of between 20% and 40% due the adverse weather, according to the grains exchange.
US Spring Wheat Harvest Sluggish; Winter Wheat Planting Picks Up Pace in Latest Week
S&P Global – 09/24/2019
The US spring wheat harvest for the 2019-2020 (June-May) crop reached 87% in the week to September 22, led by slower harvests in Montana and North Dakota, latest data from the US Department of Agriculture showed. The estimate for harvest progress during the week ended September 22 was above market expectations of 83%, but below the year-ago pace of 99% and the five-year average of 97%, the data released late Monday showed. The spring wheat harvest in North Dakota is continuing at a slower-than-usual pace, reaching 85% in the week ended September 22, down from 99% in the same period a year earlier, according to a separate report released by the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. North Dakota is expected to produce 8.7 million mt of spring wheat in 2019-2020, the largest volume of any US state.
Idaho, Taiwan Ink $576M , 2-year Wheat Export Deal
Idaho Press – 09/24/2019
Officials from Idaho and Taiwan signed a $576 million, two-year deal Tuesday for Taiwan flour mills to purchase 1.8 million metric tons of Idaho wheat. “That’s one ton for every man, woman and child in Idaho,” said a smiling Gov. Brad Little before the ceremonial signing of the agreement in the Capitol rotunda. He added, “It is not just ceremonial. Taiwan follows through on their purchases year after year.” Kuo-Shu Fan, director general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, said, “Bilateral relations between Idaho and Taipei have been so robust.” Taiwan is Idaho’s second-largest agricultural export destination, he noted, while Idaho is Taiwan’s sixth-largest export destination. “We would like to do more,” Fan said. “We would like to have more trade between Taiwan enterprises and the United States.” Little announced that toward that end, he will lead his first official trade mission as governor in October to Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, which is also known as the Republic of China. The island is east of mainland China, and southwest of Japan and South Korea.
Little noted that the Taiwan Flour Mills Association has been bringing teams to Idaho since 1970.
Farmers, Ranchers Depend on New Trade Deals
East Oregonian – 09/25/2019
Last week, Oregon Director of Agriculture Alexis Taylor delivered a sobering report to members of the state Legislature. The message: Farmers in Oregon — and everywhere else in the nation — are caught in the crossfire of the trade wars, and they’re being hurt. “Really, to have a strong Oregon economy, we need to have a strong ag economy. To have a strong ag economy, we need to have strong export markets,” Taylor told the House Agriculture and Land Use Committee. The unanswered question: When, exactly, will the Trump administration and Congress be able to wrap up new trade deals with Mexico, Canada, China and Japan?..Oregon wheat growers have lost an estimated $340 million in sales — so far, according to Blake Rowe, CEO of the Oregon Wheat Growers League. The Trump administration needs to work out a deal with China now. Every day, week or month of delay is hurting U.S. farmers. For example, shipments of Oregon cherries to China are down by half in the past two years, costing $86 million, Taylor told the legislators. A deal is also desperately needed with Japan, one of the biggest markets for U.S. agriculture.
Oregon Wheat Leader Reflects on His Tenure
Capital Press – 09/24/2019
Since joining Oregon Wheat in 2011, Rowe has negotiated facets of federal farm bills, appropriations and environmental policy on behalf of 1,311 wheat growers statewide. Under his leadership, the groups went to bat to secure funding for the Columbia Plateau Conservation Research Center in Pendleton, Ore., and navigated costly wildfires in 2018 that burned tens of thousands of acres of cropland in Sherman and Wasco counties. But perhaps no single issue had as much at stake as the first discovery of GMO wheat. Oregon exports more than 85% of its wheat crop, with Japan as the biggest customer. The majority, about 90%, is soft white wheat — a low-protein variety ideal for making noodles, cakes and crackers.
Source: U.S. Wheat Associates